Lucy, the Celestial Angel
by GreatFlame
Summary: Zeref's army of demons is rising and a certain blonde celestial spirit mage will have to prove to everyone that she can fight and protect the one's she loves but before she can do that she has to leave her beloved family, Fairy Tail, and go out on her own journey. Lucy Heartfilia will no longer be a victim, she's the Celestial Angel and no one will hurt her family.
1. Promise

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters  
 **Author Note:** Hello everyone! I am so happy to release the first chapter of my revised version of my story, the Celestial Angel, which I wrote on my other account TheGreatFlame101, unfortunately I was not able to log into this account and I lost all my work that I had already started to it took me a while to find motivation to rewrite it again. I know the whole Lucy leaves Fairy Tail had been done literally hundreds of times but I hope I can make my story unique enough for it to be enjoyable.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter and if you were a reader of my first version, I hope you see how much I've improved and changed. If you like the story, please leave a review about anything I need to improve on like chapter length, grammar, characters, fight scenes, etc.. and if you want more chapters

Have an amazing day! :)

 _ **Promise**_

 **On a distant island**

On a tropical island in the middle of the ocean hidden from the world, a spirit was resting in a clearing of lush grass and vibrant flowers. The spirit possessed a strong and warm aura that attracted all kind of animals to surround her while she slept.

Suddenly for the first time in many years the spirit opened her brilliant emerald eyes with a quick jolt and gasped. The animals all stood up and sniffed the small spirit who took the form of a little girl with long pale blonde hair that reached her feet. The spirit was wearing a frilly pink dress and wore no shoes.

The spirit started to float up and focused on a terrible energy that she felt awakening. "No this isn't possible, I thought they were dead." Her voice quavered in fear and she closed her eyes, trying to steady herself.

The spirit raised her hand and a golden sphere appeared in front of her, magic text began to circle the globe and she closed her eyes so she could concentrate. Suddenly the globe began to glow and let off a brilliant light as the spirit established a connection with the one person who could help her.

"Celestia, they're back…"

 **A few weeks later**

In the beautiful city of Magnolia, the sun was setting after a long hot summer day but even though the day was coming to an end, the city was still alive with energy. Couples roamed the cities, admiring the blooming flowers, fisherman enjoyed the last few hours of sunlight, children ran up and down the streets playing tag and pretending to be their favorite mages fighting evil, and the town's prized possession, the guild Fairy Tail, was -as always- loud with music, drinking, dancing, laughing, and fighting.

Even though it seemed like a perfect day, a certain blonde celestial spirit mage was anything but happy. The blonde, Lucy, walked to her apartment with her faithful dog spirit, Canis Minor or Plue. She balanced on the river's embankment, head held down so her bangs covered her puffy chocolate covered eyes that were usually full of joy and life.

"Hey Lucy! Good evening!" A familiar fisherman floating down the river called to her and waved.

Lucy looked up and tried to smile while waving back. The fisherman frowned slightly, Lucy's smile was obviously fake and didn't reach her eyes like it usually does. He shrugged and figured that it must have been a stressful day for her at work.

Lucy hopped off the embankment at she neared her apartment building and pulled out Plue's silver celestial key. "Bye Plue." She said warmly and leaned down to hug the "dog." The spirit trembled in her arms and tried to wrap his short stubby arms around Lucy.

Puuun." The snowman-like dog said and tried to comfort the blonde. Lucy smiled slightly and felt tears begin to sting her eyes so she quickly stood up and wiped her eyes before sending her spirit away to the Celestial Spirit Realm.

Lucy entered her homey pink apartment and set her keys on the table where her unfinished book laid along with a few other personal items. She entered her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror as she began to take out the hair ties that kept her hair in pigtails and take off her makeup. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were stained with tears, her whole body was sore and ached when she moved. She grimaced at the new cut on her cheek and lightly touched it and hissed quietly when it stung.

The blonde started to strip and let out a sigh every time she saw a new bruise forming. Once she was fully naked she started filling her bath with steaming hot water and once it was full she stopped the water and sank into her bath, sighing as the water burned her skin and worked at her sore muscles.

'That had to be the worst mission we have ever been on.' Lucy thought and somehow sank deeper into the water as she started to remember the event that she had been trying to avoid.

'It should've been me...'

 **Flashback**

The entirety of Fairy Tail had been partying for the past week which was usual for the rowdy guild but this time it was extra special because Lisanna Strauss was back from Edolas, alive and well! For years Lisanna's friends and family thought that she was dead but really she had been transported to a mirror world, Edolas. After a long and strenuous battle in Edolas, the Fairy Tail members returned to their home, Earth Land with Lisanna and the exceeds.

Lucy had partied just as hard as everyone else even though she didn't know Lisanna as well but it was the end of the month and no amount of partying could make her forget that her rent was due soon. So in the morning she put on a royal blue v-neck, white shorts that ended at her mid-thigh, brown gladiator sandals, and attached her key chain to her shorts and marched to the guild, determined to find a mission that paid a lot.

It was early in the morning so not many people had come to the guild yet other than a few drunks who passes out last night. Lucy stepped over Cana's limp body passed out on the floor and walked up to the job board.

 _Magicians needed!_

 _Magnolia Cafe_

 _Please help us Fairy Tail, we need performers to increase buisness. Just for one night, we need you to do preform magic tricks that draw in a crowd_

 _10,000 Jewels_

Lucy shook her head and thought to herself 'Definitely not, knowing Team Natsu either all the food would be eaten or the entire cafe would be blown up...most likely both.' Lucy sighed and scanned over the other jobs.

 _Treasure Hunt!_

 _Mages needed to protect our group while we explore the ancient ruins in Desierto, rumored to be hiding great treasure_

 _Split the treasure between us_

The blonde cocked her head to the side and considered the request for a minute but ultimately decided against it, 'It sounds interesting but its too far away, I need my rent money as soon as possible.'

Finally after searching and reading requests for another minute, one caught Lucy's eye.

 _Suspicious Activity_

 _Rosewood_

 _Recently, there has been multiple disappearances of villagers for the past weeks and a body has been found, completely maimed. We have no idea what is doing this but please help us before more of our friends and family turn up dead_

 _200,000 Jewels_

Lucy ripped the paper from the board and smiled "This one is perfect! Its close, enough money and Natsu and the others can beat stuff up!" Lucy walked over to the bar where Mira was cleaning up and laid down the request.

"Hey Mira, Good morning."

"Good morning Lucy!" Mira chirped happily and started to make Lucy's favorite drink, a strawberry smoothie. The two friends started to make small talk and chatter as more and more people started to filter into the guild hall. Finally, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy, and Lisanna walked into the guild, laughing and joking about something and went to sit down at a table.

Lucy hopped off her stool and finished the last of her smoothie "Can you sign off on this request? Team Natsu will handle it."

Mira nodded and stamped the sheet for Lucy. The blonde quickly thanked her and jogged over to the table where Team Natsu and Lisanna were sitting. "Guys, I signed us up for a job in a town called Rosewood." Lucy handed the paper to Erza and continued "Some sort of animal or monster is taking and attacking the townspeople, it should be an easy job for us once we find it."

Lucy expected Natsu to already be out the door and packed but instead he looked hesitant. Lucy frowned and little 'Natsu?! Not wanting to do a mission where he gets to destroy things?!' Lucy thought incredulously and quickly smiled brightly "Please you guys! I really need my rent money for this month and it could be fun." Lucy begged and put on a fake pout face that made Erza and Gray smile.

Erza got up and handed the paper back to Lucy "Yeah lets go, it has been a while since we've gone on a mission."

Gray nodded in agreement and started to take off his shirt "You heard her, get your lazy ass going Natsu!" The raven haired mage smirked at Natsu who was still sitting down.

"But guys, what about Lisanna? We just got her back and we shouldn't just leave." Natsu said and smiled at Lisanna. The white haired takeover mage smiled back and Lucy eyes widened slightly in surprise and wondered if there was something going on between those two. She shook her head and dispelled those thoughts, she was probably just reading too much into it.

"Hey I know what to do!" Happy exclaimed and stood up on the table "Why doesn't Lisanna come with us? She's part of Team Natsu right?"

Natsu grinned brightly and jumped up "You're so right Happy! Lisanna come with us, it will be so much fun with you!" Natsu didn't wait for an answer from Lisanna, he grabbed her hand and ran out of the guild with her "Meet us at the train!" He yelled back and the rest of Team Natsu sighed.

"I can't let Pinky beat me! Lets go you guys!" Gray roared and started to run towards the train station after Natsu and Lisanna.

"Gray wear your damn clothes!" Erza screamed at him and chased after the ice mage with his clothes.

"Aye!" Happy flew off after the rest of Team Natsu.

Lucy rolled her eyes fondly at her team's antics and started to jog after her teammates. Even though she was happy that Team Natsu was back in action and finally going on a mission, there was a tiny nagging feeling at the back of her mind that was getting harder to ignore.

They all met up at the train station and bought tickets to a city near Rosewood. They all boarded the train, Natsu got in first and sat down in the booth and Lucy made a move to sit next to him but Lisanna slipped past her and sat next to Natsu. Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes and sat in the seat opposite to Natsu along with Gray and Erza and Happy sat on the table. As soon as the train started moving, Natsu succumbed to his motion sickness and his head fell into Lisanna's lap. She giggled softly and began to play with his soft pink locks "There, there Natsu I'm here for you like always."

Lucy frowned 'Like always?! She hasn't been here for years, hasn't fought by his side, been there to support him, been his partner through thick and thin...' Suddenly Lucy had a scary thought that she hadn't thought of 'Maybe their connection is still that strong though...after all these years.' Lucy shook her head, trying to dispel all her negative thoughts and closed her eyes, hoping to get some peace before they arrived.

Eventually they arrived at Rosewood which seemed like a normal town except for the fact that there was no sign of life anywhere. Lucy and the others could see where the town got it's name, practically every garden was covered in roses of different colors, giving off a pleasant aroma that blanketed the whole town. The expanded Team Natsu walked down the deserted street and started to call out to any villagers.

"Hello? We're here to help!"

"We're Fairy Tail mages."

"Is anyone out there?"

Finally, someone came out of a building, a short man dressed in a cotton candy pink suit with striking blue hair and eerily black beady eyes. He let out a cry of relief when he saw the mages and started to float towards them "Thank God you guys are here! I was beginning to think that no one would ever some to help us!"He cried and actually tears started to stream down his face as he got a little too close to Erza.

"You must be Titania, the gorgeous and undefeated queen of the fairies. I'm Asher the mayor of this town." Asher floated down onto the ground and took Erza's hand to kiss it but she quickly pulled it away.

Lucy stepped in before the mayor could make another move on Erza and potentially get hurt. "Hello Mayor, as we've said we're here to help so can you tell us everything you know about this monster."

Asher turned his piercing gaze at Lucy and the blonde tried her hardest to not shiver under his gaze. The blue haired man smiled and started to walk back towards the building he came out of. "Well, it all started three weeks ago, 12 people from Rosewood had been slowly disappearing, men, women...children." The mayor stopped for a second and then continued "A hunter, Chris, found a body a week ago, completely cut up and mutilated. We decided then that we needed help from a guild before we found anymore bodies." The mayor reached the door to the building and opened it, holding it open so the Fairy Tail mages could step through.

The mages were lead into a large building where about 20 villagers were gathered, silently staring at the newcomers. Asher led them to a door in the back of the room that led to a private room with a desk, chairs, and a fireplace. A man and a little boy were sitting on the floor by the fireplace

"Hey Chris, how are you?" Asher asked in a concerned tone and put a comforting hand on Chris' shoulder. Chris was a tall, muscular man with spiky brown hair and hazel eyes. He was obviously exhausted, there were bags under his eyes and he looked like he could fall over at any moment.

Chris sighed "I'm fine, just worried about Meera, she must be so scared, I was supposed to protect her..." Chris became lost in thought and it took a few seconds before he noticed Team Natsu standing in the room with him. "Who are they? Did help finally come?" He asked excitedly and Asher smiled and nodded.

"Yes and these aren't average mages, they're from Fairy Tail, one of the strongest guild in Fiore." Asher gestured to the mages and Erza shook Chris' hand.

"Fairy Tail?!" A high pitch squeak came from the little boy who looked like an exact copy of Chris, except for his eyes that had more green, sitting by the fireplace "Wow! You're Erza Scarlet and Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia!" The kid's eyes shined with excitement "You guys are so cool! Are you here to help find my mommy?" He asked and looked up at the mages with wide innocent eyes.

Lucy crouched down and smiled at the him "Of course, we'll find your mom and everyone else." The blonde ruffled his hair and he giggled. Chris smiled tiredly and also crouched down to his kid's height.

"Hey Jared, why don't you let the adults talk for a little bit okay?" Chris winked at Jared and the little boy became straight faced and saluted his dad.

"Sir yes sir!" Jared started to march back into the room but stopped and turned back "Oh and Ms. Lucy, you're even more pretty in life than in the magazines and I bet you're super strong too, please, help my mom."He quickly scurried out of the room before Lucy could reply.

The blonde blushed and smiled sadly "You have a really great kid, I promise we'll do everything in our power to help your wife." Lucy promised and Chris nodded at her, silently thanking her.

"Chris is there anything you know that can help us at all?" Erza asked.

Chris thought for a minute but eventually shook his head "No I cant think of anything sorry, the body was in a clearing a few hundred yards from Rosewood and it was completely cut up, I hope its not too late..."

Erza nodded and clasped a hand on Chris' shoulder "Don't worry we'll go investigate now."

Team Natsu left the building and started to walk towards the large forest.

"So do we have a plan?" Lucy asked after walking around for a while.

"Well we're gonna find this monster, kick it's ass, and free the captives." Erza shrugged and smiled smugly.

Natsu pumped his fist in the air "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" He yelled and started to run farther into the forest. The whole team followed him until it was just Lucy left.

"Not this again! We need a plan you guys!" Lucy tried calling after them but they didn't listen so she sighed and followed them deeper into the forest. 'We're all gonna die...' Lucy thought as fake tears started to pour down her face.

Lucy could see and hear her team ahead of her for awhile but eventually she lost sight of them, she tried yelling their names and getting their attention but she got no response. She stopped jogging and started walking when she heard something walking through the bushes near her and making noise.

"Natsu..." Lucy called and got no response

"Gray...Erza...Happy...?" Lucy cautiously walked closer to where she heard the noise. "Lisanna...anyone?" She waited a few seconds for a response and when she didn't get one again she figured it was just a squirrel or something.

"At least its not the monster." Lucy laughed nervously as a monster leaped out at her, it's claws missing her by inches. Lucy quickly whipped around to see the monster that was attacking and screamed when she saw it. It was a tall gangly beast that was basically just bone with some leathery skin over it. It's face was human but with eerily piercing ice blue eyes and it's mouth was twisted in a wicked smile that showed off it's razor sharp teeth. It crouched on all fours like a beast and it's fingernails were abnormally long and seemed to be made of metal, almost as if they were blades.

It let out an ear piercing screech that snapped Lucy out of her daze soon enough for her to duck out of the way as the monster lunged at her again and landed in a tree this time. Lucy cursed and started to run the opposite direction. Lucy dove to the side, unraveled her whip and quickly struck the beast on the side. The monster howled and thick purple blood began to ooze out of the wound. Lucy tried to whip it again but it reacted in time and with one quick swipe, cut Lucy's whip in half. "Shit!" Lucy cussed and began running though some bushes with the beast right behind her, jumping nimbly from tree to tree.

The blonde quickly grabbed her key chain and found the golden key she was looking for "Open gate of the bull, Taurus!" Lucy swiped the key shaped as an axe in the air and the golden gate that connected to the Celestial Spirit Realm opened up and out came the giant muscular (perverted) cow man.

"Lucy your boo-" Taurus started with his usual sexual greeting but Lucy cut him off.

"Shut up and help me!" Lucy screamed and pointed behind her.

Taurus turned around and as the beast dived towards Lucy with its claws poised to stab her, Taurus swung his giant axe down and cleanly decapitated the monster. Lucy stopped running and walked up to Taurus, "Thank you so much! You're my savior." Lucy smiled and hugged her spirit.

The cow man grinned sheepishly "Well if you're that thankful then I have an idea for a favor you can do for me..." He grinned perversely and Lucy quickly sent him back before he said anymore.

'Some guys never learn...' Lucy shook her head and clipped her key chain back to her belt. She looked down at the decapitated monster and stared in shock and disgust as it dissolved into purple goo that sunk into the ground and disappeared. "Disgusting." Lucy commented aloud without knowing it and quickly began to walk away to search for her teammates and tell them that she found the monster.

She started to jog and call out her friends' name but got like before their was no responses and after a few minutes Lucy noticed some strange things. 'Haven't I passed that tree a few times, and why is the sun still so high in the sky...' Lucy started to walk and observe her surroundings more carefully. She was right, she was passing the same trees, rocks, the clouds didn't move, and nor did the sun. The blonde passed the spot where she first encountered the beast and found her whip that had been cut in half in a bush.

"This is an illusion." Lucy concluded and suddenly the whole world around her cracked and broke around her until she found herself in a cave along with her other teammates whose eyes were closed. 'So they must still be in the illusion.' Lucy assumed and tried to shake them awake but they remained stuck in their trances. She was about to start yelling their names but decided against it, 'If the monster that Taurus killed was fake that means the real one is still alive somewhere.'

Lucy sighed and looked around the cave more for any other clues. A little bit deeper into the cave, there was a huddle of a few people cowering in a corner. 'That must be the villagers.'

The blonde was about to crawl over to them but she heard a noise coming from the entrance of the cave where the light was shining in. Lucy quickly collapsed and pretended to still be in the illusion. Footsteps approached Lucy and she barely opened her eyes so she could see what monster was holding her and her friends captive.

Lucy was pleasantly surprised and shocked with the villain that walked past her, instead of the grotesque beast that she fought in her illusion, it was a handsome middle aged man with pure snow white hair except for one black streak on the side, ruby red eyes, red painted lines that extended from the bottom of his almond shaped eyes to his chiseled jaw, and most strange of all, he had thick white horns sprouting from the side of his head. He was wearing a black cloak with the hood pulled down and walked up to one of the villagers with a bored expression on his face.

He pulled a jagged black dagger from his cloak and pointed at a woman with brown hair and beautiful forest green eyes "You're up next." The man said in an eerily calm and emotionless voice. Lucy's eyes widened and she instantly knew that the woman was Chris' missing wife and Jared's mother.

Meera's eyes widened in terror and she let out a broken sob, trying to curl into a small ball and disappear from the evil man's view. Without thinking about it Lucy quickly got up and in one fluid motion she wrapped her whip around the man's wrist and pulled as hard as she could. The man was caught unaware and the dagger fell from his hand to the floor with a sound that broke the woman out of her stupor. Meera lunged forwards and grabbed the dagger while the horned man turned around to face Lucy.

He observed Lucy with disinterest and looked down at the whip wrapped around his wrist, suddenly it caught on fire and wild flames almost instantaneously traveled up the whip towards Lucy. The blonde couldn't drop her whip and time and she was consumed in flames, she screamed as she felt her body burning up and was sure she was gonna die but just as suddenly as the flames appeared, they disappeared. Lucy was breathing heavily and wildly looked herself over, finding no burn wounds or hints that she was just in an inferno. She looked up and the man was still standing there with Lucy's whip wrapped around him, except now there was a dagger sticking out of his side and sticky red blood soaked into his black cloak.

Meera looked shocked at her action and looked up at the man with a look of pure fear and to both of the girl's surprise, the white haired man began to chuckle quietly "I really have grown weak over the decades. In my prime, both of you would be stuck in illusions that would have become your realities. Oh you're screams of terror would be so delightful." He licked his lips and continued "I should formally introduce myself, I am Barbatos, one of Zeref's demons."

Lucy eyes widened 'Zeref?!' She thought and began to realize that she was way out of her league. Barbatos smiled slightly and grasped the dagger in his side, slowly pulling it out as both girls stared at him, paralyzed.

"There is no need to introduce yourself fairy, you're gonna be dead soon anyways." With a quick flick of his hand, the dagger went sailing though the air and it missed it's mark by centimeters. "Like I said, I'm rusty." Barbatos shrugged and smirked "At least I still hit one of you." Lucy felt her a cut open up on her cheek and slowly turned her head, praying that the demon was joking and that her friends were alright.

Lucy gasped at what she saw, Lisanna's chest was impaled with the dagger and her white tank top was staining with her blood. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit...!' Lucy thought and slowly began to panic. 'What am I going to do?! I'm not strong enough...'

The next few moments flashed by for Lucy, suddenly a bright light filled the cave and Barbatos hissed as a figure in a flowing white cloak appeared. The figure held up it's hand and chains that seemed to be made of pure light appeared from the cave walls and wrapped around the demon. Barbatos cursed and spat at the figure before the ground beneath him started to glow and a golden pillar of light shot through the earth and swallowed him whole. Where the white haired demon used to stand, there was an old leather book with words from some ancient language inscribed on the cover. The mystery mage knelt down and picked it up, whispered something, and the book dissipated into black light.

The cloaked figure turned around and made eyes contact with Lucy and Lucy felt her body fill with a strange calmness, their eyes were gorgeous and seemed to be made from liquid sliver. Lucy saw herself in their eyes, except it wasn't her, it was a stronger version of her, one not afraid of any evil and had the power to protect all her loved ones. Lucy saw them smile and in a flash of light, they were gone.

Lucy shook herself out of her daze and cursed, Lisanna was dying and all she was doing was admiring someone! She looked back and saw that the Fairy Tail mages were starting to wake up so she hurried and fell onto her knees next to Lisanna. With shaking hands she reached for her key chain "Open gate of the maiden, Virgo." The pink haired maid appeared next to Lucy and immediately bent down to pick up Lisanna.

"I'll take her to the village immediately." Virgo said and bowed to Lucy.

Lucy smiled tiredly at her trusty spirit "Thanks Virgo, please be careful with her." Lucy choked out and tears started to sting her eyes. 'This is all my fault...' She thought as Virgo took Lisanna back.

Natsu was the first one to open his eyes, barely a minute later. He was soon followed by Erza and Gray, Happy took a little longer and was still in a daze. Lucy explained that they all had been trapped in Barbatos' illusions somehow and taken to this cave along with the lost villagers but before she could get to the part about her confrontation with Barbatos and the accident Natsu interrupted. "Lucy." He said in a calm voice but Lucy could tell underneath he was furious. "Why do I smell Lisanna's blood?" He asked and glared at Lucy. The blonde shivered, Natsu had never looked at her like that, she had never been scared of him before.

"It was an accident Natsu, I'm sorry..." Before Lucy finished Natsu was storming out of the cave and following the scent of Lisanna's blood back to Rosewood.

The rest of Team Natsu and the villagers followed Natsu back with Lucy at the back, silently crying and wishing Barbatos had hit her instead.

When they got back, all Lucy remembered was the yelling from the person who saved her from her old life, from her partner, from the man she loved. She couldn't even argue back, everything he said was right, it was her fault, she had always been weak and it was only a matter of time before someone got fatally injured because of it. He looked so disappointed in her, Lucy couldn't take it and when he suggested Lucy should take a break from being on Team Natsu, she couldn't disagree.

Luckily Lisanna didn't die though, Erza was able to contact the new sky dragon slayer, Wendy, who specialized in healing magic and she got to Rosewood quick enough to save Lisanna. But it didn't matter to Lucy, something needed to change, and soon.

 **End of Flashback**

By the time Lucy had finished replaying the events of the past few days, the bath water had turned cold, and tears were silently streaming down her face. She lifted herself out of the bath and wrapped a fluffy pink towel around herself and dried herself off before putting on a white t-shirt and pink boy shorts. When she left the bathroom, she let herself hope, for just a second, that it was all just a horrible dream and Natsu would be in her bed with Happy and Gray would be half naked in her kitchen, raiding her fridge and Erza would be invading her privacy and going through her underwear drawer. But as expected, her apartment was empty so she slid into her pink bed, alone.

About a minute later, Lucy saw a flash of light and she wasn't surprised to see her knight in shining armor standing at the foot of her bed. He walked over to her and sat next to her on the bed and held her hand. He didn't say anything and he didn't need to. His warm hand in hers was enough.

Before falling asleep Lucy uttered a promise that would change her life forever "Loke, I promise that I will never be weak again, I will never let other people get hurt because I cant do anything. I'll make everyone proud to call me their friend."

Loke shed a single tear, and kissed the forehead of the woman he pledged his eternal life to "Shh princess, I know."


	2. Goodbye

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters  
 **Author Note:** Hey everyone! How are you? I'm doing great. Here's chapter 2! I hope you like it and please leave a review.  
Oh yeah and thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed my story! Every time I get a notification, I get so happy and excited to write more for you guys to enjoy.  
P.S. Sorry for any mistakes, I can't catch them all when I reread the chapters.

 _ **Goodbye**_

 **A week later**

Lucy's chocolate orbs blinked open as sunlight filtered into her apartment and illuminated the room. The blonde grinned and laid in her bed for another minute, enjoying the warmth and post-sleep haze she was in. For those blissful minutes, Lucy was ignorant of her current situation but soon it came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. She got out of bed and started to prepare for the day.

As she put her hair into low pig tails she steeled herself for the new day 'Today is the day, the start of my new journey.' Lucy thought and with a few purposeful strides she was out of her apartment and walking towards Fairy Tail.

For the past week, she had avoided the guild like the plague and mostly stayed inside her apartment, working on her book. Her spirits kept her company and supported her which she would always be grateful of but it was time that she got off her butt and did something. 'I made a promise, and celestial spirit mage never breaks a promise.'

When she got to the guild, most of the members were already there, Lucy had hoped she could come in early and talk to Makarov and leave but she had slept in a little too late. The blonde took a deep breath and pushed open the door, the guild was in its usual state of rowdiness and there seemed to be a fight going between the left and right side of the room.

Lucy narrowly dodged a chair being thrown in her direction and she quickly dived onto the right side of the guild. The blonde crawled over to an upturned table and hid behind it. She wasn't surprised to find her best friend, Levy, sitting there also, reading a book.

"Hey Levy." Lucy greeted and Levy looked up from her book, her hazel eyes glowing with joy.

"Oh my God! Lucy! I've missed you this week!" She exclaimed and hugged the blonde with all the strength her tiny body could muster.

Lucy smiled into her friend's shoulder "I've missed you too...it's just been a hard week."

Levy separated and started to rant "Oh I know! I heard of the mission you guys were on, if Mira and Master knew it was one of Zeref's demons terrorizing the villagers it definitely would've been an S-class mission, and poor Lisanna, she could've died if it weren't for Wendy..." Levy paused when she saw Lucy's expression dim significantly at the mention of the take over mage "B-but she's totally fine now! She just left on a mission with Team Natsu..." Levy's eyes widened when she realized her mistake and was about to backtrack again but Lucy stopped her.

"That's good, I'm glad they have each other." Lucy started to get up but Levy grabbed her hand before she could leave.

"Lucy, I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. They aren't mad at you and they're just giving you some space, please don't do anything impulsive right now."

Lucy nodded and promised Levy that she wouldn't do anything rash. The blonde weaved her way through guild members, tables, and chairs and finally got to the bar where Mira was cheerfully cleaning some beer mugs. "Good morning Mira, where is Master?" Lucy asked and Mira pointed upstairs where his office was.

Lucy thanked Mira and before leaving she added "I'm sorry about Lisanna, Mira."

Mira's eyes softened and she took Lucy's hand in hers "Lucy, it's fine, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Barbatos and he's already dead thanks to you." Mira smiled gently at the blonde and Lucy let out a little grin.

The blonde went up the stairs and knocked on Makarov's office door. She heard a loud sigh and then his gruff voice saying "Come in."

Lucy entered the warm office, Makarov was sitting at his desk that had piles and piles of papers stacked on it, the majority of them were most likely complaint forms about the destructive members of Fairy Tail. Lucy sat down on a comfortable plush chair across from Makarov who looked absolutely exhausted and was clutching a communication lacrima.

The old man set down the lacrima "Lucy, its good to see you, what do you need my child?" He asked and when he saw Lucy's serious expression he got worried "Is everything okay?"

Lucy bit her lip and took a few seconds to prepare "Yes Master something is wrong, something powerful and evil is rising, don't you feel it?" Lucy asked and Makarov nodded grimly "A week ago when I fought Barbatos, I was utterly useless...because of me all those villagers and all of Team Natsu almost died. If it weren't for that stranger..."

"Listen Lucy, that was one of Zeref's demons! Even Erza would have trouble taking one of them on."

"But Master, that's the thing! That monster, Barbatos, wasn't even at full strength yet, eventually Fairy Tail is going to have to face these demons at full power and we won't be able to take them on."

Makarov sighed and rubbed his eyes "What are you saying my child."

"I need to go; I need to get stronger so I can fight alongside my friends. So I'm leaving Team Natsu." Lucy concluded and Makarov eye's widened and he made a sputtering sound.

"What?! No, Team Natsu will be devastated without you."

Lucy let out a slightly bitter laugh "They'll be fine without me and they have Lisanna anyways, I don't need to be her placeholder anymore." Lucy was surprised she actually said that, she usually kept those thoughts to herself.

"Is that what you really think Lucy? You're anything but a placeholder to them, you're their dear friend."

"Master you weren't there, I can't meet any of their eyes without feeling so much guilt and shame. They were so mad at me and they were totally right."

Makarov nodded slowly and decided to let Lucy win the argument for now "Fine you can leave but once Natsu and the others find out they'll make you join again; I promise you that." He tried to be reassuring and frowned when Lucy smiled sadly.

"I won't be here for them to..." Lucy practically whispered and Makarov narrowed his eyes

"Lucy-" Makarov started to warn her but she cut him off.

"I'm leaving Fairy Tail too." Lucy proclaimed and Makarov gasped in shock, staring at her for a full minute, paralyzed. Lucy remained strong under Makarov's gaze and stared back at him with a new fire burning in her eyes. "I need to start this new journey as a fresh slate. This decision is one of the hardest I've ever made but I know it's the right one. You've been like a father to me Makarov, and I'll be eternally grateful that you took me in and gave me the family I always wanted but it is time for me to end that chapter of my life and start a new one."

Tears pooled in Makarov's eyes and he opened his mouth to argue but couldn't find the words so instead he accepted Lucy's request "You must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others as long as you live and you must never use former contacts met through Fairy Tail for personal gain..." Makarov paused as the Fairy Tail mark on Lucy's hand began to glow a warm pink color "And finally, even though our paths might diverge, you must continue to live your life with all your might, you must never consider your own life insignificant, and you must never forget about your family here at Fairy Tail for as long as you live."

Lucy had tears running down her face and didn't trust her voice not to break if she spoke so she just nodded. Her beloved pink mark that marked her allegiance to Fairy Tail, her home for more than a year, disappeared with a bright pink flash and just like that Lucy of Fairy Tail was gone.

Makarov and Lucy didn't exchange anymore words, they just hugged for what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds. They separated and Lucy looked into Makarov's eyes one last time before turning and leaving him in his office.

The blonde quickly made her way down the stairs and out of the guild, avoiding everyone as much as she could. When she was out of the building she looked back one more time and tried to memorize every stone, every crack, every detail in the building 'Goodbye for now.'

Lucy got to her apartment and summoned Virgo, asking the spirit to take all her stuff and store it in the Celestial Spirit Realm. While Virgo was doing that, Lucy sat down at her desk and wrote out a few letters, when she had finished she put them all in envelopes and set them on the kitchen counter. The pink haired maid finished quickly and stood by Lucy's side as she looked at her now bare apartment other than the letters and her book on the counter.

"It's strange, my whole life that I made here in Magnolia is gone in only a few minutes." Lucy thought aloud and Virgo grabbed her hand.

"We'll be back Princess and when we do, it'll be like you left. Magnolia will always be home." Virgo promised.

"I hope you're right." Lucy hummed and let her spirit return to the Celestial Spirit Realm. The blonde sighed and tried to push away all the memories of her time in this apartment with her friends that threatened to flood her mind. 'Virgo is right, this isn't goodbye, it's see you later.' Lucy steeled herself and left her apartment, striding towards the train station. When she got there, she read the train schedule and realized she didn't really have an idea where she should go. 'Great start to my new journey...' Lucy thought and almost laughed at how unprepared she was.

Suddenly, Loke appeared next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, he had helped her make her decision to leave Fairy Tail and knew how hard it was for her "So Princess, where do you want to go first?"He asked as they looked over the schedule together.

Lucy raised her eyebrow "Do you have any suggestions?"

Loke smirked "Maybe one." He walked up to the ticket station "Two tickets for Gardenia City." Loke paid for the tickets and luckily their train was boarding, about to leave to Gardenia City.

"Why Gardenia City?" Lucy asked while they boarded their train and sat down in a booth together.

"I have an old friend that lives there and I wanted to visit her." Loke explained and Lucy's eyebrow raised when she heard the old friend was a girl.

"Does this old friend happen to be an old girlfriend too?" Lucy scoffed and began to think letting Loke choose where they go was a mistake.

"No..." Loke started and Lucy continued to stare at him, straight faced. "No! I swear, she's just a friend, a celestial spirit actually."

Lucy's eyes brightened at the mention of a celestial spirit "Oh you should've led with that, who is she?"

"Vulpecula the Fox, she's a silver key but she's a master of charm and manipulation magic, we usually see each other in the Celestial Spirit Realm and hang out but lately she hasn't come back from the Celestial Spirit Realm and I think it's because her master is keeping her in the human world..." Loke's hand tightened into a fist and Lucy suddenly understood the situation "If she's in trouble I want to help."

Lucy put her hand over Loke's "Don't worry, we'll find out if she is okay."Loke nodded and relaxed slightly. 'He isn't just the leader of the zodiacs; he cares about all the celestial spirits.' Lucy thought and squeezed her spirit's hand.

After a two-hour train ride, the blondes arrived at Gardenia, a large sunny port city that hosted many merchants and vendors trying to sell their stuff to travelers and tourists. "Come on let's go, Vul's master owns a magic shop in the middle of town." Loke explained and led Lucy through the confusing streets, packed full of people, vendors, and entertainers.

The two blondes stopped in front of a big magic shop, they entered and Lucy's was surprised at how many different types of magic products were packed onto the shelves and in glass showcases. "Wow, this is amazing!" Lucy exclaimed and touched a strange miniature golden lion figurine that came to life when she made contact. "Woah Loke, are you seeing this?!" Lucy asked and petted the lion's mane with her finger, making it rub up against her.

For once, Loke wasn't listening to her and went up to the counter where a young bright orange haired woman was working. Her fiery hair was tied into a long ponytail that reached the middle of her back and on either side of her head, she had fluffy fox ears, also a bushy fox tail with one stripe grew from the area above her butt. Her face was dusted with freckles, her skin was tanned, and her eyes were hidden behind a stylish pair of mirrored sunglasses. She was wearing a beige colored wrap dress with a leather belt cinching the waist and heels. When she saw Loke, her eyes brightened significantly and literally jumped over the counter and then into Loke's arms.

"Loke! Oh my God, why are you here?" She asked as they separated.

"I just wanted to visit my favorite girl." Loke smirked and did his famous wink that he boasted could make any girl's heart melt.

Vulpecula rolled her eyes and flicked Loke's forehead "God, you're a fox." Vul shook her head but was obviously amused by Loke's antics. The fox's eyes lit up even more when she saw Lucy standing a few feet behind Loke. "You must be Lucy! Loke has told me so much about you, you're absolutely gorgeous!" Vul ran up to Lucy and hugged as if they were old friends.

Before Lucy could say anything else, a short man in a black suit with salt and pepper hair entered the room from a door behind the counter. "Vulpecula! What are you doing?! Get back to work!" He demanded harshly and the orange haired woman visibly shrunk and looked Loke in the eyes once more before turning around to face the man.

"I'm sorry, master." Vulpecula bowed and went back behind the counter where he was waiting for her. He looked her up and down and abruptly slapped her across the face, hard. The small fox spirit fell to the floor but maintained eye contact with her master.

"You aren't here to make friends, your sole purpose is to serve me and if you fail to do that, you know what happens." He whispered threateningly and Vul nodded obediently.

Loke and Lucy were both enraged at the way Vul was treated by her master. Lucy stepped forwards, intending to go to the older man and tell him to get his hands off her but Loke grabbed her hand before she stepped any further. Lucy whipped her head around and glared at Loke but the lion spirit just shook his head and pulled her away out of the store.

"What the hell!" Lucy yelled and yanked her arm out of Loke's grasp.

Loke sighed and ran his hand through his mane of dirty blonde hair "Listen Lucy, there is nothing I want to do more than go in there and beat that piece of shit into a bloody pulp but even if I did, he would just take it out on Vul. You and I both know more than anyone that a contract between a celestial spirit and their master is final. E-even if we kil- got rid of him, Vul would be banished from the Celestial Spirit Realm like me." Loke concluded and started to play with his ring which was a nervous habit he had.

Lucy wanted to scream or yell, she felt so useless. "Fine you're right but maybe we can talk to the Spirit King, he listened to me last time." Lucy suggested and actually began to think it was a good idea.

Loke shook his head "No that's a bad idea." Loke rejected and Lucy frowned.

"Why? He's the king, he can't let an innocent spirit suffer like this."

"Lucy his job is to preserve the laws of celestial spirits, what he did for me was a huge transgression." Loke tried to explain but his words fell upon deaf ears.

"Then what would you suggest?" Lucy demanded and folded her arms across her chest.

"I don't know Lucy!" Loke said and sighed. Lucy gave Loke puppy dog eyes and looked at him deep in the eyes, "Don't give me that look... your puppy dog eyes won't work on me anymore... fine! I'll go but it's useless I'm telling you." Loke rolled his eyes and disappeared in a flash of gold.

'Haha works every time.' Lucy thought triumphantly and a started to walk away from the store, promising she would come back for Vulpecula one way or another. The blonde decided to go get something to eat, she hadn't had anything to eat since the morning and it was already in the middle of the afternoon. She pulled out her purse to see how much money she had when suddenly someone ran past her and snatched her purse from her hands.

Lucy shrieked after the thief and ran after them "Dammit!" Lucy yelled and cursed as she ran after them through the crowded streets. A large man stepped out into the street in front of Lucy and she didn't react fast enough and collided into him. The celestial spirit mage fell down and yelped when her butt made contact with the hard road.

"What the hell! Watch where you're going dumbass." A harsh and deep voice raged at her and Lucy grimaced, instantly annoyed at the stranger's attitude.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand in the middle of the street, asshole!" Lucy retaliated and scrambled back onto her feet. She glared up at the man and gasped when she saw who it was.

"Laxus?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Who are you? Laxus asked and raised his eyebrow. His nonchalant attitude pissed Lucy off even more and suddenly she remembered that she was letting the thief get away.

Lucy groaned and pushed passed Laxus "Whatever, I have more important things to do." Lucy said and began to think of a way, if there was any, to find her purse again.

"Wait Blondie, I was just kidding. You're Natsu's girlfriend, where is that pink bastard?" Laxus smirked and chuckled slightly, grabbing Lucy's left hand to stop her from leaving.

Lucy slightly flinched at mention of Natsu and wrenched her hand out of the lightning dragon slayer's grasp. "I need to go." Lucy reiterated.

"Wait!" Laxus looked wide eyed at Lucy's hand and she raised her eyebrows, about to ask why he was freaking out but suddenly remembered that her hand didn't have her Fairy Tail mark on it anymore.

"What happened? Did Natsu dump you for someone else?" Laxus teased and didn't realize how much his words hurt her. "I thought he was more loyal than that." He snickered.

Lucy felt something snap inside of her and all the anger and emotions she had pent up for the past week and a half came out in full force "You know what Laxus, screw you! You need to learn how to shut your damn mouth, I don't need you being an asshole in my life right now or ever! I mean of all the people I could bump into, it had to be you!" Lucy stepped closer to Laxus and put her hands on her hips. It didn't seem possible but she raised her voice even more. "You don't know anything about why I left Fairy Tail and all you need to know is that I left because I wanted to, unlike you. You would think you would change after you were banished but no, you're exactly the same, an asshole who thinks he's better than everyone else! Go fu-." Lucy wasn't able to finish as suddenly she was enveloped in a golden bubble and suddenly disappeared.

Laxus shook his head to bring himself out of his daze, not knowing whether to be pissed off or laugh. Not many people would talk to him like that, hell, most people were scared to even look at him. 'Blondie has some fire in her, Natsu's an even bigger dumbass for giving that up.' He thought and noticed that a few people were looking at him with wide eyes because of Lucy's display of anger. "What the hell are you guys looking at?!" Laxus roared and everyone quickly averted their eyes and moved out of the way of the blonde.

'Now where did that Blondie go?' Laxus mused.

 **Celestial Spirit Realm**

"ck yourself." Lucy finished and realized that she wasn't in Gardenia anymore. Instead she found herself on a small island lost in space, literally. It was if Lucy floated into space on a chunk of Earth and someone wasn't dying. Beside her Loke stood with his arms crossed around his chest and a questioning look on his face. The Celestial Spirit King loomed in front of them, floating next to the stars and planets.

"Welcome to the Celestial Spirit Realm Lucy." Loke swept his hand across the seemingly endless space.

"Hello old friend." The Celestial Spirit King rumbled.

"...Hey." Lucy waved to the giant celestial spirit.

"Loke has informed me about Vulpecula's situation and I wanted to hear your opinion on it."

Lucy took a deep breath to steady herself "King, I know this is a huge favor I'm asking but please hear me out. As you know, I wholeheartedly believe that celestial spirits are people too, they laugh, they sing, they cry, they fight, and they deserve to be treated as humans. People like Vulpecula's master and Loke's old one, Karen, don't share my opinion and treat their spirits like objects and abuse them, and spirits accept the punishment because they're so loyal and feel the need to be subservient to us but they shouldn't be treated like that just because they got unlucky and a horrible person found their keys. If the spirits won't fight for themselves, then I'll fight on their behalf! Please King, I'm begging you, give me a way to free Vulpecula and any other spirits held by sadistic masters." Lucy looked up at the celestial spirit, her chocolate brown eyes lit with passion.

Loke looked over at Lucy in awe and felt more proud than ever to be her spirit and get to fight at her side.

The Celestial Spirit King surprisingly began to laugh and smiled down at Lucy "Wow, you really know how to deliver a rousing speech. I would love to help you but I'm in a difficult situation, Vulpecula's master is alive and I can't break their contract, as much as I want to."

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Lucy asked, once again she felt powerless.

The King thought for a few seconds before sighing and shaking his head. "Nothing I can think of. Sorry old friend, the only thing I can think of is if you can get Vulpecula's master to break their contract."

Lucy began to think it was futile and Vul would have to stay with her master but then she thought of something and smiled deviously "Fine, I'll get him to break their contract, by any means necessary..." Lucy said.

Loke cocked his head to the side 'That doesn't look good, she's plotting something.' He thought and they both disappeared and went back to Earthland.

 **Gardenia**

The two blondes appeared in the street that Lucy vanished on, except now it was mostly empty and Laxus wasn't standing in front of her. Lucy swore that it was still afternoon when she left and now it was dark outside.

"We were only there for like 5 minutes right?" Lucy inquired.

"Time works differently in the Celestial Spirit Realm. You could spend a day in there and lose 3 months in the human realm." Loke explained.

Lucy nodded and turned around, starting to walk back towards the magic shop. "So what's your plan, Princess?" Loke asked as they walked together.

Lucy just smirked and "Oh you'll see." She snickered.

"Hey! Blondie, you're back!" Someone called after them, their voice was extremely slurred and Lucy groaned when she recognized the voice. Loke and Lucy turned around and were met with a very, very drunk Laxus. His face was twisted in a goofy smile and his whole face was flushed. "And it's Loke, I've missed you so much!" Laxus exclaimed and hugged the lion spirit. Loke's eyes widened and he silently mouthed for Lucy to help him.

Lucy had to hold in her laughter, suddenly wishing she had a camera. 'This is prime blackmail material.' Lucy thought and chuckled making Laxus remember she was there.

Laxus broke the hug but kept one arm around Loke's shoulders. "Is he your new boyfriend, you should've told me you liked blondes." Laxus teased and tried to wink but it ended up looking like a mini face seizure.

Lucy rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh and encourage the dragon slayer "You can stop that, you're gonna hurt yourself, Laxus." Lucy jeered.

"You're so funny Blondie and call me...Sparky, yeah, Sparky is cool." Laxus took his arm off of the spirit and got uncomfortably close to Lucy's face. Lucy leaned away from him and grimaced at the strong scent of alcohol. A lock of Laxus' hair dropped down between his eyes and he went cross eyed to look at it. He gasped loudly and slapped his hands over his mouth "Blondie guess what... I'm blonde too!" He marveled as if it were a huge revelation and started to giggle.

Loke and Lucy looked at each other, shocked, as Laxus giggled uncontrollably and fell to the ground.

Lucy rolled her eyes 'Who would've thought, Laxus is a crazy drunk.' Lucy thought and started to walk away. Loke stared at the hysterical lightning dragon slayer and cautiously walked passed him to follow Lucy.

"Wait, where are you guys goin'?" Laxus slurred and struggled to get back onto his feet.

"None of your business, Sparky" Lucy retorted and Laxus followed both of them down the street to the magic shop.

"Let's go to a bar you guys! I want to get wasted tonight!" Laxus hollered and Lucy slapped a hand over his mouth.

"No more drinks for you, now shut the hell up." Lucy told him and entered the store. It looked like the shop was closing for the day, Vulpecula was sweeping up between two shelves and her master was behind the counter, counting money.

Lucy quickly strode up to the counter before he noticed, grabbed his crimson tie and yanked down, making the man's head collide with the table.

"Lucy!" Loke yelled, shocked at the blonde's violence.

"Go Blondie!" Laxus cheered from behind Loke before going back to playing with a ring that changed your appearance.

"Loke whats happening?" Vul asked in worried voice and ran over to stand by Loke's side with her broom in her hand.

Lucy let go of the tie and let the man raise his head and glare at her. "I'll give you ten seconds to leave, little girl." He threatened and waited to Lucy to move but she didn't budge "It'd be a huge mistake to mistake to test me." He said and narrowed his eyes. Suddenly he vanished from behind the counter and appeared behind Lucy. She wasn't fast enough and by the time she managed to turn around, he had produced a knife and was making a stabbing motion at her.

Before the knife made any contact with Lucy though, a tiny lightning bolt shot into the man's arm and he dropped the knife and grabbed his shocked arm with his other hand. Lucy stared shocked at Laxus who was eating a magic pill that turned your tongue different colors and held a finger gun up to the man. "Hey, don't hurt Blondie or I'll make you go boom, grandpa." Laxus pretended to shoot his finger gun and another tiny lightning bolt came out of his finger and shot the floor under the man. He yelped and scrambled backwards until he was behind Vulpecula.

"What the hell?! Who are you people?" The man's tone was still authoritative even though he was hiding behind Vulpecula.

"We're just some concerned citizens who don't like the way you treat your spirits. "Lucy reached down and picked up the knife up off the floor. "I'll give you ten seconds to free their spirits of their contracts, old man." Lucy taunted and when the man just glared at her, she continued with a smirk. "It'd be a huge mistake to test me."

"V-Vulpecula get rid of them for me!" Her master demanded and pushed her towards the blondes.

The fox tightened her hands on her broom and took a deep breath, "N-no master..." She said.

"What did you just say to me?!"

"I said no! They're my friends and I won't hurt them!" Vulpecula cried.

"You worthless bitch!" The man spat and reached into his pocket, producing a silver key with fox ears made into the head. Vulpecula quickly looked at Loke with scared eyes.

"Be caref-" She was cut off as she dissipated into golden particles.

Her master pulled out another silver key, this one looked like a scythe and had the crow symbol on it. "Open Gate of the crow, Corvus!" A black gate appeared next to him and when it opened up, a man stepped out. Corvus was slim man with short jet black hair, bottomless coal colored eyes, and pearly white teeth. He was wearing a ragged black toga with gold lining that stopped a few inches above his knees, a laurel wreath made of dead leaves, rings with all kinds of stones decorated his fingers and he wore no shoes.

"Corvus, kill them immediately!" The man pointed at Lucy, Loke, and Laxus.

"I thought I told you last time never to order me around, James." Corvus said in an eerily calm voice and turned his head slightly to make eye contact with his master.

James' visibly shivered and bowed his head "I'm sorry Corvus, please get rid of these annoyances."

Corvus smiled slightly, showing his teeth and looked at the trio. "You know James; I saw what you did to Vul. I thought I distinctly remember telling you never to lay your filthy hands on her again."

"N-no that was an a-accident-"

"You slapped her and continued to punish her later by accident?" Corvus asked, cocking his head to the side.

"She wasn't listening to me! I'm your spirit's master and you must obey me!" James roared grabbed Corvus's arms. "Do what I saw or you'll regret it!"

Corvus looked down at James' hand clutching his arm and a dark aura started to grow around the crow. "You really shouldn't have done that." Corvus said quietly and James quickly backed away from Corvus as the spirit sprouted pitch black feathery wings from his back. Corvus held his hand out in front of him and a scythe materialized in his hand. The crow spun it around a few times and then took a menacing step towards his master.

James fell on his butt and quickly grabbed Corvus' key and sent him back to the Celestial Spirit Realm. "Goddammit they're all useless!"

Lucy took a few steps towards James until she was standing over him, his knife still in her hand. "I'm gonna ask again, release all your spirits from their contracts."

James didn't answer for a few seconds, probably thinking of an escape plan but then Laxus and Loke stepped up next to Lucy. "I would listen to her if I were you." Loke opined and smiled brightly.

James sighed loudly and stood up. "Fine, I don't need them anyways." James only had three keys, the fox, the crow, and another one that Lucy didn't recognize. The unknown silver key resembled a sword more than a key. He laid them all out on the floor and held his hand out over them. "Spirit of the fox, spirit of the crow, and spirit of the hero, I hereby release thee from your contracts." The keys glowed a soft golden light and started to float in a gold bubble before they disappeared.

Lucy dropped the knife and grinned from ear to ear "Thanks for your compliance." She chirped and walked past him, leaving the magic shop with Laxus and Loke following her.

"That was a reckless plan Lucy!" Loke chided once they were out of the shop.

"It worked didn't it." She shrugged and laughed at Loke's serious expression. "I was done with feeling powerless." Lucy admitted.

"That was awesome Blondie, you're not a total pussy like I thought you were." Laxus chuckled and leaned on Lucy for support.

"...Thanks." Lucy rolled her eyes and began to wonder how she should handle Laxus "Laxus where are you staying?" Lucy asked and thankfully got an answer from the lightning dragon slayer. With Loke's help, Lucy was able to lead Laxus back to the inn where he was staying and get him into his room. Lucy sent Loke back, saying that she could handle Laxus now.

As soon as he got into his room, he stripped off his big fur coat, his shirt, his shoes, and his jeans before collapsing into bed. "You can sleep on the couch Blondie." Laxus gestured lazily to the big couch against wall.

Lucy's face flushed with red at the sight of the half-naked dragon slayer, suddenly noticing how muscular Laxus was. "I-I don't think that's a g-good idea." Lucy stammered and turned to leave the room.

"Oh come one, I don't bite." Laxus whined and giggled as he continued "Most of the time..." He added and his giggle evolved into full laughing.

"You're not funny!" Lucy shouted, her face getting even hotter if that were possible. She was about to say something else but was interrupted by Laxus' loud snoring. Lucy sighed and slapped a palm over her face 'I'm gonna regret this...' She thought as she removed her sandals and hair ties before laying down on the surprisingly comfortable couch. She pulled a blanket over herself and snuggled deeper into the couch to get comfortable.

'My first day away from Fairy Tail wasn't so bad after all.' Lucy thought with content smile on her face before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

 **Post Author Note:** Wow that was a long chapter! I never intended for it to be so long, sorry if you didn't like it, it was kinda filler-ish. I just got into the zone and didn't notice until I had finished haha

I also didn't plan for Laxus to be in this chapter but randomly I decided to put him in and I'm glad I did because who doesn't love a drunk Laxus? I don't know if I'll use his character more, maybe if you guys like him enough I'll find a place for him ;)

Anyways next chapter will get more into the story so don't worry.

Have an amazing day!


	3. Paradise

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters  
 **Author Note:** Hey everyone! Sorry this Summer was really busy for me and I've been on vacation for most of the time so I couldn't find time to write but I am so excited to release this new chapter. I hope you enjoy it, please leave a review, your guy's feedback makes my day :)  
Sorry for any mistakes, I'll edit the chapter as I catch them.

 ** _Paradise_**

Laxus woke up to the harsh sun rays shining in his eyes. He moaned and pulled a pillow over his head to protect himself, it felt like someone was slamming a frozen sledgehammer on his head. Slowly but surely, he took the pillow off of his head and sat down on the side of the bed, holding his aching head in his hands. Laxus groaned loudly and slowly opened his eyes. As he inhaled through his nose, the sweet smell of vanilla filled his senses and he instantly recognized it. 'Blondie was here? what happened last night?' Laxus thought and tried to remember the events of last night but couldn't.

"Blondie." Laxus called quietly and looked at the other side of the bed, expecting the blonde to be sleeping but found nothing.

"Blondie." Laxus said louder and instantly regretted it. The dragon slayer moaned in pain just as the door to his room opened and Lucy walked in holding a bottle of pills. She rolled her eyes at the bent over Laxus and filled a cup with water from the sink and walked over to Laxus, handing the cup to him. She opened the bottle and gave him three small pills, he nodded graciously and quickly popped the pills into his mouth and downed them with the water.

"What happened last night? Did we... you know..." Laxus gestured casually at her and then him.

Lucy cocked her head to the side, confused at what the other blonde was talking about and then suddenly her face erupted into a bright red blush. "No you pervert!" She shrieked causing Laxus to recoil from her and hold his hands up to his ears.

"Stop yelling!" Laxus ironically roared back and continued in a quiet whisper-like voice "It was just a guess, calm down besides I know I'd remember if we got together." Laxus smirked and Lucy gaped at the dragon slayer but instead of retorting she started to walk out of the room but before she left she made sure to flip Laxus off and stick out her tongue.

"You're a lot less of an asshole when you're drunk! Thanks for everything and hopefully I'll never see you again, bye Sparky." Lucy slammed the door behind her and exited the hotel, not knowing where she was going but as long as she was away from Laxus she would be happy.

"Sparky?" Laxus said, wondering where that ridiculous name came from and then suddenly memories of the night before flashed into his head. "Oh God, I'm a fucking idiot! Sparky?! Really?" Laxus asked himself and flopped down onto his bed.

'I'm never gonna drink that much again...' Laxus promised himself.

 **Lucy**

Lucy was still fuming as she walked aimlessly around the town until she arrived at a small cafe. She decided to get something to eat and as she sat down at the small table, Loke materialized on the other side of the table and sat down.

"Good morning, Princess." Loke greeted and when he saw how upset Lucy was he became extremely concerned. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Lucy sighed loudly and ran her hands through her hair "I'm fine, Laxus is just an ass."

Loke chuckled at that "Duh."

Lucy rolled her eyes as the waitress walked up to her table and asked what they wanted. Lucy ordered strawberry waffles and orange juice and Loke ordered coffee. The waitress quickly returned with their drinks and promised Lucy's food would be out soon.

Loke took a sip of his coffee and suddenly remembered the news he had for Lucy "I have great news for you, Lucy!" Loke exclaimed and reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving three familiar silver keys.

"Oh yeah, what ended up happening to Vulpecula and her friends?" Lucy asked and was surprised when Loke placed the silver keys in front of her.

"They're yours." Loke said and grinned at Lucy's shocked face.

"What?! Why?" Lucy asked as she picked up the keys on the table and examined them.

"Well Vul, Corvus, and Hercules were sent to the Celestial Spirit King so he could decide what would happen to them now that they didn't have a master. At first the King was going to send them to three random locations and let fate decide who finds them but Vul instantly rejected that idea and told the King that she wanted stay with her friends and she wanted you as her master." Loke explained.

"It was that easy to convince him?" Lucy asked incredulously.

Loke shrugged and smirked slightly "Vulpecula can be very convincing when she wants to."

"This is amazing Loke! I can't wait to meet all of them." Lucy beamed and added the three keys to her key chain.

Loke reached across the table and squeezed Lucy's hand "You're a star Lucy and we spirits are drawn to your bright, beautiful light. I know these past days have been hard on you but remember, your spirits will always be there for you." Loke promised.

"T-thanks Loke." Lucy smiled back at her spirit.

A few minutes later, Lucy's food arrived and when she finished, Loke paid for her meal since her purse was still gone with most of her money. The blonde and her spirit walked towards the train station that they had arrived in. "So where are we going next?" Loke asked as they read over a train schedule.

"How about...Paradise Village, that's the soonest time." Lucy suggested, the train was boarding in a half hour.

Loke grinned at the mention of the village and lightly blushed "I remember Paradise. It's on the outskirts of Fiore known for it's top notch hot springs. I have a lot of great memories there." Loke reminisced and Lucy shook her head at the spirit's lecherous grin.

"I could use a nice dip in a hot spring, let's go." Lucy said.

Loke bought a train ticket for Lucy and while they were waiting Lucy decided to summon her new spirits and make contracts with them. Loke agreed that it was a good idea and they went to a secluded place.

"So who's up first?" Loke asked and Lucy pulled out a fox-eared key. Loke smiled and nodded in approval "Good idea, Vul is gonna be so happy."

"I connect myself to the Celestial Spirit Realm and call upon Vulpecula whom resides in the palace of the fox, open thy gates!" Lucy chanted, hey eyes slightly glowing and the key floated out of her hand and unlocked a door that appeared in front of Lucy and Loke. The fox spirit emerged as the door, bathed in golden light.

Vulpecula was now wearing brown long boots with fur lining the top, tan short shorts, a leather belt, a midriff top, and orange fur cuffs adorned her wrists. Her tail seemed to have grown since last night and her eyes weren't covered by glasses this time, they were blood red with a hint of pink in them, they seemed to draw Lucy in and Lucy felt the strange urge to serve the woman in front of her.

Vul's bushy ears perked up when she saw Lucy and she ran up to Lucy. "Oh my God, Lucy! I'm so glad you're my master now!" Vulpecula squealed and hugged Lucy with a surprising amount of strength for a small woman.

"H-hey Vul, I'm glad you chose me too but I want you to know that I'm not you're master, I'm your friend." Lucy declared and smiled at the orange haired woman.

Vul's eyes teared up and she separated from Lucy and quickly wiped any tears away "Of course, we're going to be best friends and you can call me anytime for any reason, bye Lu, bye Loke." Vul waved and dissipated into a golden light.

"What kind of magic does Vul use?" Lucy asked.

"Vulpecula's a master of deception, seduction, and manipulation. She has the ability to charm people into her personal servants if she wants if they look her in her eyes when her magic is activated." Loke explained and shook his head fondly "She gets in a lot of trouble with her powers."

Lucy nodded her head and filed away the information for later. She retrieved the next "key", it was more of miniature silver sword than a key. Loke narrowed his eyes at it "Be careful with this one Lucy." He warned and Lucy raised her eyebrow.

"Why? Are they dangerous?" Lucy asked.

Loke sighed "In a way..." He answered lamely and Lucy took a deep breath before summoning the hero. She preformed the chant and the gate opened to reveal a handsome tan young man. Lucy blushed when the light died down completely, Hercules was only wearing a gladiator skirt and sandals so most of his toned chiseled body was on display. He had a face that seemed to be sculpted from marble, eyes like molten gold, and short brown hair. A beaten up sword with chunks missing from it hung at his side.

The spirit knelt in front of Lucy and kissed her hand "Hello my Princess, it is with great honor that I should serve you for eternity."

Before Lucy could respond to the very forward gesture, Loke put an arm around Lucy and pulled her away from Hercules. "Back away Hercules." Loke growled and the Hero looked up at Loke with an amused smirk on his face.

"Oh my old friend Loke! You know, I've slain lions much bigger than you." Hercules threatened in a friendly tone.

Loke laughed humorlessly and adjusted the rings on his fingers "Is that so? Then tell me why the last time we fought, the Lion won?" His fists started to glow and he pounded them together.

Hercules drew his sword, it suddenly turned into a polished long sword with a golden hilt, and inscribed on the sword was it's name written in an ancient language. "I've been looking forward to this day for a long time, bring it kitty." Hercules taunted and before the two men clashed, Lucy forced herself between them.

"Stop it you two!" Lucy ordered and glared at the two spirits until they put down their weapons. "Hercules, what times can I call you?" Lucy asked abruptly and the spirit told her.

"Thank you Hercules, I can't wait to get to know you and spend more time with you as my friend." Lucy smiled and faintly heard Loke growling in the background.

"I look forward to that too, my Princess." Hercules bowed and disappeared in a flash of light.

Lucy sighed "Well I guess I can't summon you guys together ever..." Lucy muttered and Loke snorted.

"If he wasn't such an ass, we could work together." Loke said.

"I think you're just jealous." Lucy teased and Loke blushed.

Loke scoffed and folded his arms across his chest "I'd never be jealous of a idiotic, arrogant prick like him. Don't summon him without me there, okay?"

Lucy decided to let it go but found it cute how protective Loke was being. "Anyways how does Hercules' fight?" Lucy asked

"He's a master swordsman, skilled in storm magic, and did I mention he was an ass?" Loke asked sarcastically.

"You're going to have to tell me why you guys hate each other later." Lucy said and took out the last key, a silver key molded into a scythe. "I connect myself to the Celestial Spirit Realm and call upon Corvus who resides in the palace of the Crow, open thy gates!" This time a black gate appeared and when it opened, black smoke poured out. Corvus walked out in the same outfit as last night, the black mist pooling around his feet. He was casually playing with wicked scythe, twirling it and throwing it up into the air and catching it.

"Hello Master." He said in a monotone voice and Lucy greeted him back.

"Please call me Lucy instead of Master, I'm your friend and you're not my tool." Lucy explained her philosophy wholeheartedly and Corvus smiled at her, revealing razor sharp teeth.

"I'm going to like you...Lucy, I can only be summoned on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays."

Lucy nodded and suddenly Corvus swung his scythe at Lucy, stopping inches away from her neck. Loke reacted immediately, raising his fists to attack Corvus but Lucy held up her hand and gave Loke a meaningful look. The blonde remained calm and looked back at the crow "I can't wait to work together." Lucy smiled with the scythe poised to take her head off.

Corvus laughed and withdrew his scythe "Me too, Lucy." The black mist rose and wrapped around all of Corvus' body, when it dissipated, he was gone.

Lucy dropped to the ground and took deep breaths "He's...intense." Lucy gasped.

Loke helped Lucy up "Yeah, not much is known about him but he is definitely one of the more dangerous spirits. At least he likes you." Loke chirped.

"I don't want to see what he does to people he doesn't like..." Lucy said as they walked back to the train station. The train was now boarding and Loke went back to the Spirit Realm to give Lucy some alone time.

The blonde settled into her booth and suddenly felt the strain of summoning the three new spirits and making contracts with them. She yawned and closed her eyes, deciding to take a nap to rest her body. Just as she was about to go to sleep, she faintly heard the sound of someone sliding into the seat across from her.

"Hey Blondie, long time no see." A deep voice rumbled and Lucy's eyes shot open. All of her drowsiness was suddenly gone.

"Laxus!" Lucy exclaimed. Across from her, Laxus was staring at her with an amused look on her face, next to him was a large beaten up backpack. He was wearing a sleeveless black muscle shirt, white jeans, and his signature fur cloak. "What are you doing here?!"

Laxus shrugged "It was time to leave Gardenia and this was the train that was leaving the soonest. It's just happy coincidence that my favorite Blondie happened to have the same idea."

Lucy gaped at Laxus, trying to form a sentence but couldn't 'Damn him! Him and his stupid smirk!' Lucy thought angrily and massaged her temples to calm down. "What happened to your hangover?" She asked, wishing the dragon slayer was still immobilized in his hotel room.

"I'm a dragon slayer, we heal quick." Laxus answered and smiled at the look on Lucy's face.

"Why me?" Lucy lamented and laid her head on the table separating them.

"Stop being over dramatic, you know you like me." Laxus said and Lucy glared up at him. Laxus leaned in closer to Lucy so there was only a few inches of space between them "So why did you leave Fairy Tail, Blondie?" He asked in a whisper.

Lucy narrowed her eyes and instead of backing away, she got closer to Laxus, their lips almost touching "None of your business, Sparky." Lucy whispered and smirked when Laxus retreated and sat back up.

"It's Laxus, not Sparky." The dragon slayer growled.

"I'll stop calling you Sparky when you stop calling me Blondie."

"I'll stop calling you Blondie when you tell me why you left Fairy Tail." Laxus retorted.

"Fine" Lucy agreed for some reason and told Laxus the abbreviated story of why she left Fairy Tail. While she was telling the story, Laxus remained quiet and when she finished he didn't talk for a minute.

"I'm confused, you left Fairy Tail because Lisanna, who is back from the dead, got hurt on a mission? How is that your fault?" Laxus asked.

"You don't understand, it was all my fault! I couldn't do anything against that demon and that dagger was meant for me, not Lisanna. She got hurt because of my incompetence." Lucy exploded. The guilt weighing her down was becoming unbearable.

Laxus sighed exaggeratedly "That's complete bullshit, Blondie. Everyone messes up."

Lucy hung her head so her hair covered her face "But because of me, so many people have been hurt. Ever since I joined Fairy Tail my friends and family have fought for me because i couldn't fight for myself. I'm weak and I don't want to be the reason someone gets hurt ever again."Lucy said.

"A long time ago I would've agreed with you. I believed Gramps was being idiotic to let weaklings join the guild, especially you. When I heard the guild was destroyed because a rich girl wanted to rebel against her father, I was furious. But when I started the Battle of Fairy Tail, I was defeated by the same weaklings I hated so much. You proved me wrong, Blondie, you aren't weak." Laxus reached out and lifted Lucy's head so she was looking at him. "No one blames you for what happened."

Lucy laughed sarcastically as she wiped away the tears threatening to spill from her eyes "That's not what Natsu thinks, he hates me now. He couldn't even stand the sight of me so I left Team Natsu."

"No way that dumbass hates you, you guys are practically married." Laxus said incredulously.

"Natsu was furious when he saw that his precious Lisanna was hurt because of me. I guess I was just a replacement." Lucy spat bitterly, a little surprised at her sudden outburst.

"You're a lot of things Blondie but you are definitely not a replacement for Lisanna. You two are totally different, for example your boobs are way bigger." Laxus smirked.

"You're disgusting." Lucy said even though there was a hint of a smile on her face.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Laxus joked.

The train started to move and Laxus' eyes widened as he was hit with a sudden wave of nausea. "Oh no..." He murmured as he lowered his head while holding his stomach.

Lucy realized what was happening and smiled mischievously "You get sick on moving vehicles too? That's hilarious, the great Laxus Dreyar beaten by a train. If only I had a camera right now!" Lucy chuckled and Laxus glared at her darkly.

"I'll get you back for this Blondie." Laxus growled and Lucy stuck her tongue out at him.

"That would be more threatening if you weren't about to puke." Lucy teased and before Laxus could respond, a sudden jolt from the train shut him up and caused him to curl up. "You should sleep it off Sparky." Lucy suggested and Laxus just groaned at her and laid his head on the table. Without thinking about it, Lucy started to play with Laxus' surprisingly soft blonde hair, lightly massaging his head making him groan in a pleased tone which Lucy took as a thanks. Eventually, after a few minutes of playing with his hair, the lightning dragon slayer fell asleep, snoring softly.

Lucy giggled softly and continued to mess with his hair and watch the scenery flash by before falling asleep herself.

 **Fairy Tail**

"We're back!" Natsu announced Team Natsu's arrival while kicking open the guild doors as always. Everyone yelled back their greetings to Team Natsu as they walked up to the bar where Mira was making drinks.

"Hey Mira." Lisanna greeted her sister and they exchanged a hug over the counter.

"Lisanna! I'm so glad you're back. I was worried about you, you really shouldn't have gone on a mission so soon. Are you okay?" Mira fretted over her baby sister, making she was okay.

"I'm fine Mira, don't worry. It was just a few bandits that we had to take care of." Lisanna gently batted away her sister's hands.

"Yeah and as long as I'm here, Lisanna won't get hurt again." Natsu promised and put his arm over the take over mage's shoulders.

Lisanna blushed lightly "Thanks Natsu."

Mira frowned slightly at the exchange between Natsu and Lisanna. Of course she wanted her sister to be happy but she also knew that another one of her friends would be hurt if Natsu and Lisanna got together. 'Lucy would be devastated...speaking of Lucy...'

"Hey have you guys seen Lucy recently, she came in yesterday morning to see Master and then left suddenly."

"No we haven't talked to her in a while." Happy said, beginning to worry about Lucy "She's probably been wondering where we are."

"Let's ask Master." Gray suggested and as soon as they started to walk upstairs to Makarov's office, the guild master came down the stairs, brushed past Team Natsu, and jumped up onto the bar counter. He immediately grabbed a mug of beer and downed it all in one gulp.

"Hey Master, do you know where Lucy is?" Happy asked and Makarov shook his head grimly.

"No I don't." Makarov snapped uncharacteristically.

Erza exchanged a look with Mira at Makarov's strange behavior and decided to press him more "What were you guys talking about yesterday?"

Makarov sighed and rubbed his hand across his face as he stood up "Can I have everyone's attention please." He commanded in a loud voice and waited until the entire guild was silent "It is with great remorse that I have to announce that we have lost a fellow guild mate, our friend and great member of this family..." Makarov took a deep breath before he continued "Lucy Heartfilia has left Fairy Tail."

For what seemed like an eternity the guild was in shock and no one spoke. Finally, Natsu broke the silence "No." He whispered and abruptly ran out of the guild.

"Natsu!" Happy exclaimed and flew after the pink haired dragon slayer.

As soon as the silence was broken, a cacophony of questions, exclamations, and cries sounded throughout the guild.

"She regrets not being able to say goodbye to everyone but she knew she wouldn't be able to leave if she had to face all of you. She loves everyone dearly but she had to leave." Makarov spoke for Lucy over the yelling, hoping to comfort some of the guild members.

"This can't be." Erza whispered, grabbing onto the counter for support.

"No way." Gray muttered, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks without him realizing it.

Sitting at a table in the corner of the guild, Levy stared shocked at the book she was reading "Lucy..."

 **Natsu**

Natsu sprinted through the streets of Magnolia, running as fast as he could to the apartment he had spent countless hours in with his partner. 'No, no, no.' Natsu chanted in his head not believing that Lucy would leave him like that, without even saying goodbye. Instead of using the door he jumped through her window like he always did.

He expected to find a surprised Lucy who would yell at him to stop coming into her apartment uninvited. All the yelling would be worth it though because eventually she would stop and smile at him while calling him an idiot. Natsu loved when she smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief and affection.

However, instead of finding Lucy in her warm, homey apartment, he was met with a bare room, void of furniture, books, clothes, decorations, and most importantly Lucy. He called her name a few times, raising his voice each time until he was screaming for her. "Please Lucy!" Natsu yelled as he checked all the rooms of the apartment and meeting the same emptiness. The only thing that was left were multiple enveloped on the kitchen counter, all with different names decorating the front in Lucy's handwriting.

Natsu's letter was on top so he quickly ripped it open, hoping that Lucy was just playing some sick joke and she had moved to another apartment. Natsu began reading the letter, his heart sinking more every line.

 _Dear Natsu, I guess by now you've realized that I've left Fairy Tail and Magnolia.  
I want you to know that making the decision to leave and actually doing it has been the hardest things I've ever had to do.  
Leaving behind Fairy Tail, all my friends, family, the memories that I've made, and especially leaving behind you is something I never thought I would do but I've realized something, you guys don't need me anymore.  
Ever since I've joined Fairy tail, you have sacrificed so much for me because I couldn't defend myself and I want to thank you for that. But last week, on that mission, Lisanna almost died and I couldn't do anything. You were right Natsu, it was my fault. I'm weak, plain and simple.  
I understand if you're still mad at me, I'd understand if you hate me and you don't care if I'm gone but I just want you to know that you saved me from my old life and gave me a new one.  
Forming Team Natsu with you and going on all those missions together was the most amazing moments of my life and I'll always hold them dear in my heart but it's time to move on for me.  
I love you Natsu Dragneel and I hope you'll be happy with Lisanna  
Love, Lucy Heartfilia_

Unconsciously Natsu had activated his magic and the edged of the paper was burning. His grip on the paper loosened and it floated down to the barren floor. It finally hit him, Lucy was gone, his best friend, his partner, his family, who fought by his side, cried with him, and laughed with him was gone. The dam that was stopping his tears broke suddenly and hot tears streamed from his eyes and wet the floor beneath him as he collapsed onto his knees. Soon the crying became full sobbing, Natsu felt like the little kid who had been abandoned by Igneel again.

Happy floated into the apartment, finding Natsu curled in a ball, crying hysterically and swooped down to comfort his friend. "Lushy..."

 **Lucy and Laxus**

The two blondes woke up from the train's piercing whistle announcing that they had reached their destination. Lucy groggily rubbed the sleep from her eyes and Laxus yawned loudly and stretched.

"Morning Blondie." Laxus grinned at her.

"It's night Sparky." Lucy stated and got up to leave "Well it's been fun but it's time to part ways."

Laxus shook his head as he got up too and slung his backpack over his shoulder "You can't get rid of me that easily, we can walk around the village, get dinner, go to the hot springs, and then share a hotel room again." Laxus winked at her suggestively and Lucy shook her head.

"In your dreams." Lucy retorted as they exited the train.

Laxus whispered the next part directly into Lucy's ear, causing her to shiver involuntarily "No in my dreams, we would go straight to the hotel room."

"P-pervert!" Lucy exclaimed and tried to kick Laxus in the crotch but he caught her leg before she made contact.

"Nice try Blondie."Laxus said and Lucy promptly flipped him off. As they walked out of the train station, a familiar cloaked figure bumped shoulders with Lucy while walking past her. "Oh sorry." Lucy hastily apologized and caught a glimpse of the stranger's eyes as they walked past. 'Those eyes!' Lucy instantly recognized the beautiful reflective silver but before she could grab her savior, the crowd had separated them.

"We have to find that person!" Lucy exclaimed and rushed through the crowd, keeping the cloaked person in her sights.

"Wait Blondie." Laxus called behind her, pushing past people and trying to catch up to Lucy.

Finally, they broke through the worst part of the crowd, and Lucy's target was a block ahead of them. They took a sharp right and Lucy panicked when she lost sight of them. Laxus caught up to her and asked what was wrong with her "That's the person who saved me from Zeref's demon!" Lucy revealed and Laxus nodded, understanding why Lucy was so frantic to catch up tot them

The pair ran after the mage for a few blocks, weaving in and out of alleyways and streets, never catching up the mystery person even though they were walking and the blondes were running. Eventually, Laxus and Lucy found themselves in an underpopulated part of the town, the only building ahead was a run down hot spring entrance building.

"Okay enough of this!" Laxus exasperated, stating to spark and glow yellow and in an instant he was next to the cloaked person. Just as he reached out to grab them, a golden chain shot up from the ground behind Laxus and wrapped around his wrist and retracted, taking Laxus down with it. The dragon slayer landed on his butt hard and the cloaked figure walked into the hot springs entrance building without looking back once.

Lucy ran up to Laxus who cursed as he got up "What the hell was that?" Laxus grumbled.

"She did the same thing to Barbatos in that cave." Lucy said and grabbed Laxus' hand as she ran up to the building. "Come on she went in here." Lucy chirped.

Laxus and Lucy entered the building and were surprised to find that the inside did not match the outside at all. Instead of being run down and ruined by inattention, it was beautifully decorated and looked like a first class hot spring. Behind a desk, a gorgeous middle aged lady in a white kimono decorated with pink flowers and a red sash was reading a book. She had lush white hair that was held up in a messy bun and her eyes were hidden by a pair of shaded glasses.

As soon as the two blondes entered the lobby, she closed her book and stood up to greet her guests. "Hello." She greeted the couple with a soothing, calm voice. "Are you interested in the hot springs?" She asked and smiled, showing off her pearly whites.

Lucy stepped up to the desk "No actually we were wondering where the person who just came in here went."

The lady cocked her head to the side "No one has come in today except you." She said in a confused tone and Lucy exchanged a look with Laxus behind her.

"We were sure someone in a cloak came in here."

The woman smiled cordially and shook her head "I'm sorry, no one but you two and me are here."

Lucy sighed and thanked the woman for her hospitality and was about to leave but the woman called after them "Wait, I highly suggest our hot springs, I offer five class facilities and many people leave here feeling rejuvenated and full of energy."

Laxus shrugged at Lucy "Might as well, we aren't going to find that your mystery person and you smell like you haven't bathed in a while." Laxus teased and Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, not falling for his taunts.

"You're right, I could use a relaxing dip in a hot spring." Lucy said and jumped slightly when she turned around to find the white haired woman behind her.

"That's wonderful! You and your boyfriend will enjoy it very much, follow me." The woman started to walk down a hallway to the left before Lucy could tell her Laxus wasn't her boyfriend.

"Let's go babe." Laxus wrapped his arm around Lucy's hip and pulled her along with him.

"Stop it you ass!" Lucy hissed and wriggled out of Laxus' grip.

The woman stopped when the hallway split into two and pointed to the right "This way for woman..." She pointed to the left "And this way for men." She instructed and Laxus and Lucy split up.

Before the woman went back to her desk Lucy stopped her "How much does it cost, I'd be happy to pay you right now or later."

The woman laid her hand on Lucy's shoulder and Lucy suddenly felt a powerful aura emanating from her "Don't worry Lucy it's free." She smiled and took her hand off Lucy's shoulder. Lucy didn't realize but she had been holding her breath when the woman had her hand on Lucy's shoulder.

She took a deep breath and started to walk off to the changing room but she suddenly realized something 'How did she know my name?!' She asked herself 'Laxus must've said it right? I don't remember him calling me anything other than Blondie though...' Lucy shook her head, dispelling any weird thoughts 'I need this hot spring more than I thought, I'm becoming paranoid.'

Lucy put her clothes in a small locker and entered the hot springs area in a small towel that stopped at her mid thigh. The hot springs were outdoors and were beautiful. Flowers and other vegetation grew around the hot springs, adding to the natural look. Steam rose from the crystal clear water and blanketed the area in a thick mist. Lucy was ecstatic at having this amazing hot springs all to herself and quickly shed her towel and practically jumped into the water. Lucy sighed contently as she relaxed and felt the water work at her sore muscles.

The blonde closed her eyes and didn't notice the muscular figure listening to music on the other side of the hot spring. "Hey Blondie." At the sound of the deep voice, Lucy's eyes rocketed open and she shrieked while attempting to cover her body.

"L-Laxus! What are you doing here! I knew you were a sick pervert!" Lucy screamed and Laxus rolled his eyes at her. Lucy's blush from the hot water deepened as she took in Laxus' upper body, 'Why does he have to be so muscular?' Lucy thought to herself as she examined the tattoo decorating his left pec.

"This is a co-ed hot springs, I'm allowed to be here." Laxus informed and rose from his seated position. Lucy squeaked and covered her eyes as more of Laxus' body was revealed, thankfully the water went up to his hips. "You know that innocent act is getting old, Blondie." Lucy could hear the smirk in his voice and felt the familiar feeling of wanting to smack it off his face build inside of her.

"Look the other way, I'm getting my towel!" Lucy yelled at him and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, Blondie but I'm gonna get you to let loose someday." Laxus promised and turned around. Lucy opened her eyes cautiously and was relieved to see Laxus' back facing her. She stared at the muscular canvas for a minute before shaking her head and scolding herself for being so easily distracted.

Just as she started to climb out of the water, she felt a burning sensation spread throughout her body. It was if an inferno was raging inside of her. She yelped in pain and fell back into the water as the pain got worse. Black dots danced across her vision and she felt herself start to lose consciousness from the pain. The blonde vaguely heard Laxus call for her and saw the woman who ran the hot spring standing over the water with a smile on her face. Lucy tried to talk but all that came out was another scream from the pain shooting through her body.

Right before she blacked out, she saw the woman become enveloped in a white light and transfor. She was now wearing a white wrap dress with gold trim that stopped a few inches above her knees, her hair had grown much longer and reached the floor, the glasses she was wearing were gone, her eyes stared back at Lucy and the blonde felt entranced by the pure silver pools, and she had what seemed like angel wings stemming from her back. Lucy felt Laxus' arms wrap around her and the last thing she was the angel-like woman wave at her with an amused smile on her face.

* * *

 **Post Author Note:** Hope you all liked this chapter! I don't know if I'm gonna have Laxus and Lucy end up together buts they're relationship and banter is really fun to write and I hope you have just as much fun reading it. I also really like writing the Fairy Tail moments with Team Natsu, Lucy's departure will affect Fairy Tail greatly, especially Natsu and I can't wait to explore that more.

I'm very excited to write the next chapter because it will advance the plot a lot more and that means Lucy becoming a badass sooner lol. Hopefully, I'll have it out soon but if I don't please be patient, I won't abandon this story

Oh and thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story, every time I get a notification, I get so excited and happy! Keep leaving reviews for me, they're very appreciated.

Have an amazing day!


	4. Sacrifice

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters  
 **Author Note:** Hey everyone! I'm so excited to release Chapter 4 and for you guys to read it! This chapter was really fun to write and I hope you guys have fun reading it. See you at the end :P  
Sorry for any mistakes, I'll try to fix them

 _ **Sacrifice**_

"Hey Blondie, what's wrong? Come on talk to me!" Laxus yelled at the unconscious Lucy in her arms. "Wake up!" Laxus demanded, hoping that the yelling would shock her back into consciousness. Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light and Loke appeared with a concerned expression on his face.

"Laxus! What happened?!" Loke asked as he gestured for the dragon slayer to give him Lucy.

Laxus shook his head frantically as he gently handed Lucy over to the spirit. "I-I don't know, one second she was fine and then the next she was screaming in pain and passed out." Laxus explained and Loke laid Lucy on the ground, using a towel to cover her body and his coat to pillow her head.

Laxus went to other side of the hot springs to retrieve his towel which he wrapped around his waist and quickly came back to Lucy's side. "Lucy." Loke called the celestial spirit mage's name repeatedly while checking her pulse, breathing, and heart beat. "She's not breathing and I don't hear her heart beat..."Loke said in shock and started to frantically preform CPR on his master but it wasn't working, Lucy still remained lifeless. "Lucy please, come back dammit!" Loke cried as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Laxus hung his head and all of a sudden let out a guttural roar and punched the ground, cracking the concrete.

"Wow I forgot how painful this process is." A feminine voice chirped behind the men, Laxus whipped around quickly while Loke didn't seem to notice and kept trying to resuscitate Lucy. Laxus recognized the woman as the hot springs owner but now she looked different, her hair had grown, her clothes had changed, she wasn't wearing glasses, she had wings, and there was a supernatural glow surrounding her.

"What the hell? Did you do this?" Laxus growled angrily.

The woman shrugged and smirked at Laxus "So what if I did?" She asked innocently and Laxus stood up with a dark look on his face.

"What the hell did you do you bitch?!" Laxus started to charge towards her and her smirk disappeared in an instant. An arrow made of pure light formed above the woman's shoulder and shot towards the dragon slayer, stopping centimeters from his head.

"It's disrespectful to call your elder that name." The woman lectured and wiggled her index finger at him like a mother reprimanding her child. Laxus slowly backed up and the light arrow dissipated back into light particles. The woman strutted past Laxus and when he tried to reach out for her, another chain of light appeared and pulled down Laxus' towel. "0 to 3, muscle head, I'm winning." she gloated and knelt down next to Loke's side.

The spirit finally noticed the white haired woman and opened his mouth to say something but she shushed him. "Don't worry this is what Lucy wanted." She whispered and laid a hand on Lucy's forehead. Her hand emitted a single pulse of white magic that expanded and covered Lucy's body. The celestial spirit mage's eye suddenly opened but they head rolled back in her head so they were completely white. Lucy gasped and started to breath heavily, her head darting side to side but she obviously wasn't seeing her surroundings.

Loke gulped when Lucy woke up and called for her but it seemed like she couldn't hear him, he turned to the angel-like woman. "Please tell me what's happening to her? How is this what she wanted?" He asked desperately as the woman rose from her position.

"When I saved Lucy from Barbatos, I saw something special in her. Her one true desire was to be strong enough to protect her friends from this new threat, to not feel helpless anymore. I'm giving her the chance to realize her dream." The woman explained while she looked down at Lucy who had quieted and was breathing normally now. "But before I can help her, I need to test her and see what she's capable of."

"This is a test?" Loke asked incredulously, not taking his eyes of Lucy for a second.

"'Yes and if she passes, she wakes up and she gets what she wants."

"And if she fails?" Laxus asked harshly from behind the woman.

Her wings suddenly extended and she flew above Laxus, Loke, and Lucy with a bright smile on her face. Before she flew off she waved and said "Just hope she passes so you don't have to find out."

 **Lucy**

Lucy gasped as she opened her eyes, taking quick breaths as she sat up. "What..." Lucy's head darted side to side as she took in her surroundings. The blonde found herself on a very familiar street in Magnolia. 'The last thing I remember was going to the hot springs with Laxus and it was night..." Lucy said aloud "How am I in Magnolia?" She asked but there was no one to answer her. The street was eerily calm and Lucy couldn't hear or see anyone else. She was wearing a different outfit then the one she remembered wearing, now she had a white blouse, black jeans that hugged her legs and butt, and heeled boots. Her whip was attached to her waist but not her keys which was unusual.

Lucy stood up and started to walk towards Fairy Tail 'Someone there can tell me what's happening.' Every detail was perfect and Lucy almost believed that her leaving Fairy Tail was just a dream and really she had just fainted in the street. As she neared the entrance to the guild hall though, she grew even more suspicious because the guild was totally silent. Fairy Tail was never quiet, there was always the chatter of all the guild mates or a fight was taking place or a party was being thrown. 'It must be empty.' Lucy inferred.

The blonde hesitantly opened the door and found that all the Fairy Tail members were there, they were just completely silent, staring off at nothing until Lucy came in. Almost simultaneously they all turned to her and Lucy grew very uncomfortable under their collective gaze. She awkwardly smiled and waved at everyone "Hey guys, why is everyone so quiet? Cat got your tongues?" Lucy joked in an attempt to lighten the mood but no one laughed.

Lisanna sat up from a table behind Lucy and walked past the blonde, making sure to bump her shoulder against Lucy's. "Look everyone the blonde bitch is back." Lisanna sneered and everyone laughed at Lisanna's insult. Lucy gaped at Lisanna as the take over mage walked over to where Natsu was sitting and sat down in his lap. "I don't know how you were able to stand being around her for so long." Lisanna said as she stroked Natsu's chest.

Natsu shrugged and wrapped his arms around Lisanna. "I don't know how I did either. She could never compare to you, babe." Natsu laughed and Lisanna joined him before she leaned in and kissed Natsu passionately.

Gray who was sitting next to Natsu smirked at Lucy and stood up to stand beside Juvia. "Yeah Natsu, the only thing she's good for is her big boobs, I can't believe I used to have a thing for her." Gray jeered.

Erza swallowed a bite of strawberry cheesecake at the bar before speaking up too. "She can't even fight if it weren't for us she would've died."

"We should've let her." Gajeel said.

"G-guys...what are you talking about?" Lucy stumbled over her words as her eyes became wet with tears. "Please stop." Lucy cried, every time someone spoke it was like they stabbing a knife into her heart and twisting it.

"Oh is the little baby gonna cry?" Mira teased in her demon form.

"We should just put her out of her misery." Lucy gasped when she heard the voice that said that, the blonde turned her head to find her best friend, Levy looking at her with complete disdain.

"Not you too Levy." Lucy whimpered as the tears finally started to stream down her dace and stain her cheeks.

Suddenly, a small fireball was shot at Lucy and the blonde quickly jumped out of the way. Of course, the attack came from Natsu who looked disappointed his fireball hadn't hit his mark. "Wow can you guys believe it? She actually did something." Lisanna cackled and Lucy narrowed her eyes at the white haired mage.

"Let's see if she can dodge this one." Natsu's hand became engulfed in brilliant red flames, the flames all came together and formed a giant flaming orb. The pink haired dragon slayer threw the ball at Lucy but before it got near her, Laxus suddenly appeared, stepped in front of Lucy, and cancelled out Natsu's attack with his own lightning blast. Lucy let out a breath of relief when she saw Laxus, almost starting to sob from joy.

"L-Laxus thank you." Lucy stuttered because she was still shaken from her friends' betrayal.

"What the hell Laxus!" Natsu roared and lightly nudged Lisanna off his lap so he could stand up.

Laxus smirked at Natsu's pissed off face "Sorry Natsu but I haven't had a taste of Blondie yet." He turned around and Lucy's happiness turned into disgust as the other blonde stalked towards her while licking his lips "Once I'm done with her, you can do whatever you want."

Lucy shook her head and turned to leave but before she could get out the doors, Lisanna jumped in front of Lucy in her tigress form. She lunged at the blonde with her claws extended but Lucy was able to turn to the right at the last moment and dodge the worst of Lisanna's attack. However, Lisanna's claws did manage to scratch Lucy's side. Lucy hissed at the stinging wound and quickly pushed open the guild door to leave. Just as she left, she heard a strangely familiar voice speak. "Find her and kill her." The voice ordered and the Fairy Tail members roared their compliance.

Lucy quickly ran away fro the guild and took a sharp right into an alleyway as her friends started to pour out of the guild with one mission in mind, to kill her.

 **Paradise**

Loke stayed at Lucy's side while Laxus went to get dressed. A gate opened in front of him and Virgo appeared from it, dressed in her usual maid outfit but for once her face wasn't expressionless. She quickly fell to the floor on the other side of Lucy. "Princess..." The maid muttered and brushed stray blonde hairs out of Lucy's face.

"She's breathing and all her vitals are normal but she won't wake up." Loke informed and Virgo nodded, holding Lucy's other hand. Unexpectedly, tears started to fall from Lucy's pupil-less eyes and her face twisted into a grimace.

Virgo gasped and looked up at Loke who looked just as shocked as the Maiden. "This must have something to do with the test." Loke tried to sound assuring but it was obvious how scared he was for Lucy.

Laxus came back, now dressed in something other than a towel and frowned when he saw Lucy's tears. "What the hell happened?!" He asked in a demanding tone and Loke glared at him.

"How would we know! We know as much as you do, now shut the hell up." Loke snapped. Usually, Laxus wouldn't let anyone talk to him like that but he begrudgingly let it slide this time.

A few minutes of silence passed before Laxus suddenly smelled something worrying. "Blood." He muttered and got onto his knees next to Lucy. He deeply inhaled through his nose again and his suspicions were confirmed. "She's bleeding!" Laxus exclaimed and slightly lifted up the towel covering Lucy's front. On Lucy's side, a huge gash had appeared and was bleeding steadily, above the gash, three long scratches had formed. Virgo quickly went into nurse mode and ripped off a long strip of her skirt to wrap around Lucy's wound.

"What's happening to her in there?" Loke asked and was surprised when he got an answer from the person who was putting Lucy through all of this.

The mystery woman was standing behind them for who knows how long, holding a rolled up piece of paper. "Things just got interesting." She said.

 **Lucy**

Lucy was holding her bleeding side as she ran through the streets of Magnolia. She had gotten the wound from one of Erza's swords that floated around her in her Heaven's Wheel form. The red haired warrior had sent her swords throughout the city looking for the blonde and one had found unfortunately found her, she was able whip it out of the air with her Fleuve d'étoiles and it stopped moving. Now she was carrying said sword, walking cautiously down the street and ready to strike with the broadsword at any moment.

She glanced down and noticed that she was leaving a trail of blood behind her. The wound on her side had soaked through her shirt and started to drop blood on the pavement. Lucy grimaced and realized that she was close to her apartment. She knew it would be risky to go there but she needed to wrap the wound and stop the bleeding immediately. She cautiously checked the street leading to her former home and when she confirmed that no one was on the street, she quickly sprinted across the street and sighed in relief when she safely entered the apartment building.

As the blonde walked up the stairs she had a horrible thought 'All my stuff is probably gone.' She realized and as she neared her door, she prayed that everything was still there. Lucy tried turning the door knob and groaned when she realized that it was locked. She didn't have a hairpin in her hair so she only had one option, to try and kick in the door.

Lucy took a deep breath 'I can do this, I can do this!' Lucy psyched herself up and raised her right leg. "Lucy kick!" Lucy exclaimed and kicked the door below the handle. The door shook but still held so Lucy tried again and again, getting more desperate each time until finally the lock broke from the frame and the door rocketed open. Lucy silently cheered for herself as she rushed into the apartment. Surprisingly, the apartment wasn't bare and all of Lucy's stuff was still in it.

The blonde grabbed her first aid kit from the kitchen and made her way to her bathroom but as she passed the window she heard a loud noise and felt a huge amount of magic that disappeared just as quick as it came. Lucy ran to the window and opened the curtains and her mouth fell open when she saw what had happened. A whole city block had been destroyed by someone's magic. Lucy looked and saw Mira walking through the rubble with a satisfied smirk on her face. She was followed by her brother, Elfman, and her sister, Lisanna. Lucy quickly closed the curtains and dropped to the floor, holding her mouth shut so she didn't make any noise as the three mages passed by the apartment.

She waited a few minutes after they were gone and crawled to her bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She laid the blood stained sword next to her and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. 'I have no allies and I'm being chased by murderous versions of my friends in some horrible dream or alternate reality. They're getting desperate and if they might destroy the whole city looking for me, I can't escape the city without someone seeing me.' Lucy thoughtfully analyzed her bleak situation. 'The only I can do is directly confront them...' Lucy shook her head at the suicidal idea and suddenly she saw the glint of something gold up on the sink counter. She quickly rose from her position and found her keys sitting on the counter.

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed without thinking about it and quickly grabbed the key chain. "Virgo can dig a tunnel to get out of Magnolia." Lucy thought aloud and held out the golden key.

"Open gate of the Maiden, Virgo." Lucy chanted and furrowed her eyebrows when nothing happened. She chanted again and was met with the same result, no golden light, no gate appearing, and no pink haired spirit. Lucy decided to try to summon Loke next. Frankly, she was surprised he hadn't summoned himself already as he usually did when she was in trouble.

"Open gate of the Lion, Leo." Lucy felt her heart sink more and more every second that passed without Loke appearing by her side. She tried again and again but Loke didn't appear, she dropped his key on the floor in shock and tried the next key, Taurus. The humanoid cow didn't appear and Lucy's panic grew. The blonde cycled though every one of her key, even Plue, and no one appeared.

"No, no, no, no! Dammit" Lucy yelled and in a fit of rage, punched the mirror in front of her. She gasped in shock at her action and cradled her now bleeding hand with her other. In the fractured mirror, Lucy saw the broken version of herself, her shirt soaked with her own blood, her blonde hair was disheveled, her hand bleeding from the glass cutting her, and her cheeks stained with tears. She was all alone, her Fairy Tail friends had betrayed her and her spirits wouldn't answer her call. Lucy sunk down onto her knees and started to sob hysterically. 'Why is this happening?' Lucy asked herself as she tried to make sense of everything.

Eventually the sobbing stopped and as she sat on the floor, something at the back of her mind began to nag at her. "That voice who ordered the attack..." It was just on the tip of her tongue and all of a sudden, everything came together. "It was Barbatos!" Lucy's eyes widened as she realized that everyone in the guild must be under his control. However, the same feeling of helplessness that she felt when she last fought the demon filled her and she shook her head."I couldn't do anything then and nothing will be different now."

"Come on Luce, get up!" Lucy's head snapped up when she heard Natsu's voice but unlike the scornful Natsu she was running away from, this Natsu spoke with a voice full of energy and enthusiasm, like the real Natsu.

"Hurry up Lucy! We're waiting." Happy's chipper voice called out to her too and she smiled as more voices began to fill her head.

"We're here for you, Lucy, always." Gray promised.

"Let's show them the power of Fairy Tail!" Erza roared.

"Stand up Blondie, I know you're stronger than this." Laxus teased.

"You're the strongest person I know, Princess." Loke said genuinely.

"Remember who you're fighting for." A voice Lucy hadn't heard before spoke but somehow Lucy knew it was the woman who had saved her from Barbatos and the one at the hot springs.

Lucy grabbed onto the edge of the counter and pulled herself up and was once again met with the broken image of her but this time she smiled at herself and closed her eyes, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. Slowly, she opened her eyes and was filled with a calming energy.

Lucy retrieved her first aid kit and got to work, stripping out of her clothes so she could get at her wounds better. First, she washed her bleeding hand and applied antibiotic cream on it before wrapping it in bandages wrapped it in bandages. Then, she applied the same cream to the scratch marks inflicted by Lisanna. Finally, she had to deal with the sword wound which needed a few stitches. Lucy cleaned the wound as best she could and took out the needle and thread. The blonde had done this a few times, in emergencies on mission but never on herself. She put a towel between her teeth to bite down on as she pierced her skin with the needle and began to close it up. Finally, after a few painful minutes, she finished and cut the thread, wincing as she got off the floor and exited the bathroom.

She opened her dresser and grabbed a dark blue skirt, a brown leather belt, a white crop top with gold lining, dark blue stockings, and leather boots, She dressed and attached her whip to her side and also her keys even though they weren't working. 'I won't leave them behind.' Lucy reasoned with herself as she tied her hair back into two low pigtails so it wouldn't get into her face. Before she left, she reached into her dresser again and pulled out something she had never worn before, a scabbard that Erza had given to her a few months ago as a gift. Lucy attached it to her belt, went into the bathroom to retrieve the broadsword, and sheathed it in the scabbard.

The celestial spirit mage looked a herself in the mirror above her desk, no longer was she soaked in blood, with tear stained cheeks and no hope. The person who stared back at her was strong, confident, and fearless.

"I'm coming for you Barbatos, my friends aren't your toys."

 **Paradise**

Laxus stood up, ready to attack the woman and she clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Do you really want to go again or do you want me to help your girlfriend?" She asked and when Laxus stopped glaring at her as if he was going to murder her, she walked up to Lucy's body and laid her hand over the blood soaked piece of cloth on her wound. Her hand started to glow and after a minute or two, she withdrew her hand and removed the bandage, revealing Lucy's healed side. "Now moving on to these nasty scratches." She announced and began to heal the three scratches.

"Wake her up." Loke demanded in a harsh whisper.

"What was that? Speak up sweetie, I'm an old woman." The angel woman giggled at her own joke.

"I said wake her up!" Loke roared and continued. "Look, I don't know who or what you are but because of you Lucy is getting hurt. Whatever this test, I want you to stop it."

The woman turned to the spirit "I can't stop it now, Lucy either passes or fails, no way to get out of it." She explained and stopped healing the scratch marks now that they were gone "She's probably fine. The worst should be over." She tried to assure the two spirits and the dragon slayer.

Suddenly Lucy screamed and her right hand started to bleed profusely. Tears rushed down the blonde's eyes and the woman sighed "Well that was horrible timing." She said and went to work on the hand.

"Will she snap out of it if we kill you?" Laxus growled and the woman laughed.

"That's a pretty big if. You would need a big miracle to even touch me." She boasted as she continued to heal Lucy's wounds.

"I've fought people and monsters much bigger than you." Laxus threatened.

"And I've killed bugs more menacing than you." She countered and glared at the dragon slayer.

Virgo stood up and bowed at the woman. "Can you please tell us who you are, Miss?" Virgo asked politely.

The woman smiled at the spirit "Finally, someone who knows their manners! I'm an angel, you can call me Celestia."

 **Lucy**

Lucy used the small alleyways as she backtracked towards Fairy Tail. Her pursuers were getting more violent, starting to destroy the whole town. After Lucy left her apartment, the whole building exploded in flames and Lucy knew it had to be Natsu. She also witnessed Wendy take down a few houses with her Sky Dragon's Roar. She avoided everyone as best she could, hoping that once she made it into Fairy Tail it would just be her and Barbatos.

'Step 1: Find Barbatos, Step 2: Kill Barbatos, Step 3:...to be decided.' Lucy shook her head at her horrible plan and before she could think of another one, she heard something behind her. She quickly unsheathed her sword and held it out awkwardly, wishing she had taken those sword fighting lessons with Erza.

"Lushy! I'm so glad I found you first, I don't know what happened to everyone. Are you okay?" Happy flew up to Lucy with tears in his eyes.

A part of Lucy wanted to believe this was the real Happy and hug the little blue exceed but the other, rational part of her forced her to back away. "I know you aren't Happy." She said calmly and her suspicions were confirmed when the exceed grinned maliciously and produced a small knife from his backpack. Lucy didn't have the heart to attack Happy and jumped backwards but Happy was still able to leave a shallow wound on Lucy's stomach. Lucy winced and began to run the other way, making the newly sutured sword wound flare up in pain.

Happy didn't follow the blonde, instead he flew into the air and loudly announced "Hey everyone! I found her! Lucy is over here!"

Lucy cursed and ran faster away from Happy despite the pain. As she exited the alleyway and ran down the street to Fairy Tail, multiple members of Fairy Tail started to emerge from side streets, alleyways, from the roofs, and buildings.

"Solid script: Tremor!" Lucy heard Levy cast a spell behind her and the shaking word "Tremor" flew by Lucy and dropped into the pavement a few feet from Fairy Tail's entrance. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and Lucy lost her balance and fell down, wincing in pain as she landed on her knees and broke the skin open. Her sword fell from her hand and skittered a few feet away.

Lucy gaped as the ground in front of her opened up and formed a giant crevice separating her and Fairy Tail. She quickly got back on her feet and turned to face her friends. It seemed like every member of Fairy Tail was standing there, forming an impenetrable wall. All of Team Natsu, Levy, Gajeel, Laxus, Juvia, and Makarov stood in the front.

"Game over, Lucy." Erza said, now dressed in her Purgatory armor.

"Let me roast the bitch, Master." Natsu volunteered to be Lucy's executioner and the blonde felt her heart begin to sink.

Lucy shook her head to dispel any negative thoughts 'This isn't the real Natsu, it's Barbatos.' She thought as Natsu's hand lit on fire.

"Do you have any last words?" Makarov asked coldly.

"That bitch doesn't deserve last words." Lisanna spat.

"Come on Lisanna, maybe they'll be funny." Gray smirked and everyone turned back to Lucy.

Lucy took a few deep breaths before yelling "Barbatos where are you! Come out and face me instead of using my friends like puppets!" Lucy continued to call out the demon, hoping he would appear soon or this would all be for nothing.

The Fairy Tail members looked confused at Lucy's outburst and Levy frowned "She must be going crazy." She pitied her former friend. "Put her out of her misery." Levy turned to Natsu and he nodded.

"With pleasure." He said with a sick smile on his face.

Lucy wasn't paying attention to them anymore though, she felt a presence behind her and she turned around to find the white haired, red eyed demon standing next to the chasm, with a satisfied smirk on his face. At his side he held a twisted solid black sword that seemed to suck the light out of it's surroundings.

"You figured it out." He announced and splayed his arms to the side. "Yet you're still going to die because you're weak and I'll control your friends for eternity." He snapped his fingers and suddenly Levy dropped to the ground, screaming and holding her head. No one helped her or even looked her way.

Something inside of Lucy snapped and she roared as she began to run towards Barbatos, dipping down to grab her sword as she sprinted at the demon. She felt an intense heat follow her and grunted when she felt fire spread across her back but she kept running. As she neared the demon, she jumped into the air and held her sword out to impale the demon. She felt two ice lances pierce her body, one through her chest and the other through her right calf but it didn't matter anymore, as long as she took down Barbatos with her. She screamed something intelligible as Barbatos held up his sword and Lucy felt it enter her body, tearing though skin, muscle, and bone but the blonde had also impaled the demon, right where his heart should be. The forward momentum caused Lucy to fully impale herself on Barbatos' sword and to push them both off the edge of the chasm. Lucy coughed up blood and smiled at the demon's surprised face as he realized that he was going to die with her

He screamed something at her but she didn't hear him, all she heard was her own heartbeat, steadily getting slower and slower. Lucy let go of her sword and Barbatos did the same, the two separated and fell down the seemingly endless dark chasm. Lucy looked up towards the light coming from the sun above and grinned brightly, blood staining her teeth. 'I saved everyone.'

 **Paradise**

"An angel? They don't exist." Laxus said in a disbelieving voice.

Celestia rolled her eyes "So dragons, demons, and all sorts of magical creatures can exist but not angels?" She asked condescendingly.

"Then why have I never seen an angel other than you before?" Laxus asked.

"Because I'm the only angel left and I only come out in times of crisis." Celestia said and something about her tone said that didn't want to answer anymore questions.

"So you want Lucy to become an angel too?" Loke asked.

Celestia nodded "Yes, she's the perfect candidate. She has a pure heart, a strong will, and amazing potential." Celestia smiled down at Lucy as she finished working on Lucy's hand. "She'll survive this, she has to."

Loke felt pride for his master fill him and he grinned "Yeah she will." He agreed and Virgo nodded next to him.

A few minutes passed before things started to go downhill, fast. First, Lucy screamed and grunted in pain, burn wounds appearing on her back. Then, two holes appeared as if she had been shot by invisible large bullets through her chest and calf. And finally, a huge laceration appeared a few inches below her heart. The blonde coughed up blood and strangely began to smile. Loke, Virgo, and Laxus were shocked at the sudden injuries and couldn't seem to move, even if they could, they wouldn't know what to do.

"Dammit, why is she being so reckless?!" Celestia cursed and quickly began to heal the laceration first since that was the most serious wound.

"Lucy!" Loke exclaimed, wishing more than ever that he could be by Lucy's side. 'She must be so scared.' Loke thought and felt tears start to fall from his eyes. He turned to Virgo and she was in the same situation, hoping she could help Lucy and crying from the frustrating feeling of being helpless.

Laxus closed his eyes and grit his teeth. 'Come on Blondie, you have to pull through this.' He though as he clenched his sparking fist and tried to control himself.

 **Lucy**

As Lucy fell through the pitch black crevice, she saw her life flash by her. Every significant moment, from her mother's funeral to her father forgetting her birthday to Natsu taking her hand and leading her to Fairy Tail. She thought of everyone from Fairy Tail, all of her dear spirit, her mother and her father, and she realized that she wasn't done yet.

'I can't leave them, I don't want to, I have to live!' Lucy thought and a warm golden aura surrounded Lucy. The sword in her gut disintegrated into a black powder and she felt all her wounds begin to close and heal. The light around Lucy began to grow more until the whole chasm was lit up with her heavenly aura. Lucy closed her eyes and a white light enveloped her. The light burst and Lucy emerged with two beautiful white feather wings. She opened her eyes to reveal that instead of chocolate brown they had tuned into the color liquid gold. Lucy looked down at her hands in wonder, she felt a strange yet familiar power fill her and without thinking of it she began to fly out of the chasm towards the light.

"I'm coming back everyone!" Lucy exclaimed as she entered the light and let it engulf her.

 **Paradise**

Suddenly while Celestia was healing Lucy in tense silence, the blonde's wounds started to close on their own. The angel withdrew her hands and gasped in delight when the symbol of golden wings appeared above Lucy's body and became imprinted on her right upper bicep.

"She did it." Celestia announced as Lucy's pupil-less eyes closed.

Loke and Virgo smiled at each other and sighed in relief. "Of course she did, I didn't doubt her for a second." Loke laughed.

Laxus didn't say anything, he just smirked and nodded his head at Loke's statement.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open, back to their normal color, and she sat up quickly. She was met with the sigh of Virgo and Loke on their knees and holding her hand, both with huge smiles on their faces and tear stained cheek, the woman she saw before she passed out smiling proudly down at her, and Laxus standing a few feet back with his signature smirk on his face.

Lucy smiled at the sight of her friends. "Hey guys, I'm back." She said and was instantly hugged by her two spirits. "I won't leave you guys again, I swear." Lucy promised and looked at Laxus who smirked at her. She stuck out her tongue at him jokingly and separated from her spirits.

"Congratulations Lucy, you passed." Celestia stood up and Lucy looked at the angel with a confused look on her face. "Oh yeah you don't know me yet, I'm Celestia, think of me as your fairy godmother." She said and Lucy raised her eyebrow.

"Were you the one who made me go through all of that?" Lucy asked even though she already knew the answer.

"It was just a test to see what kind of person you are and can I say you did amazing! You passed with flying colors" Celestia grinned from ear to ear and handed Lucy the rolled up piece of paper in her hands. "This is a map to where you'll find me." Celestia sprouted her wings again and flew into the air. "Please hurry, I get very impatient and you won't like me if I'm impatient."Celestia warned and flew off.

Lucy wrapped the towel around her body and stood up, watching the angel fly away from them. "We have to go." Lucy proclaimed and clutched the map firmly in her hand as if it would disappear if she didn't.

Laxus shook his head and walked towards Lucy. "You can't be serious Blondie, you almost died from that crazy bitch's test! You can't actually think following her is a good idea?" Laxus asked incredulously.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I agree with Laxus, Lucy." Loke concurred.

"Me too, Princess." Virgo said, not willing to see her master go through something like that again.

Lucy looked back at her spirits and Laxus with a smile on her face and glowing eyes "You guys, I've never felt more alive."

* * *

 **Post Author Note:** Hello again readers! I hope you liked the chapter, it was really interesting to write such a dark twisted Fairy Tail world but also kinda fun. I had to change a few things but I'm super happy with the end result. Now that Lucy's been torn down completely, she can start to be built up again better than ever.

I'm also really happy that I was able to reveal the strange woman in the chapter as Celestia, the angel! She is one of my favorite characters cause I she can be as crazy I want her to because that's her character. Can't wait to write with her more and hope you guys like her.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story when I released Chapter 3, it was awesome to see all the support.

Side note to all of you shippers out there, I don't know who Lucy is going to end up with in this story yet, It's obviously between Laxus and Natsu. Hopefully I can choose soon but to be honest, no matter which guy I pick, this story isn't going to be focused on their romance, it's a story about Lucy's journey to become a better version of herself not to find Prince Charming.

Please leave a review with your feedback, things you hate, things you like, etc... they all help me and encourage me to write more.

Have an amazing day!


	5. Yeah

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters  
 **Author Note:** Hey everyone! Hope you had an awesome holiday season and my belated gift to all of you patient readers is a new chapter! I really hope you like it and have fun reading it. As always excuse my mistakes, I try to catch them all but some slip through.  
See you guys at the end!

 _ **Yeah**_

Lucy woke up to the sound of rustling coming from someone in her inn room. 'Oh my God is a thief in my room? Or a kidnapper? Or a murderer?' Lucy began to panic as she jumped to conclusions but remained calm and pretended to still be asleep.

Her heart began to beat faster as the heavy footsteps began to approach her bed, she heard them breathing as they reached her nightstand by her bed and begin to search through the drawers. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and continued to breathe evenly as if she were asleep until she heard them groan and retreat to the other side of the room. She kept her eyes shut until she heard them open the bathroom door and turn on the lights. Cautiously she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. It was still very dark so she assumed it was only an hour or two after she and Laxus found an inn to stay in for the night.

The blonde quickly and nimbly slipped out of bed and crouched on the floor, slowly grabbing the lamp on her nightstand and creeping over to the bathroom door as silently as possible. 'Robbing Lucy Heartfilia was a bad idea.' Lucy thought and raised the lamp above her head as the mystery person walked out of the bathroom. A large figure covered in shadows emerged and Lucy waited until they were a step ahead of her before making a move to smash the lamp against their head. "Take this!" Lucy exclaimed but as fast as lightning the intruder turned around grabbed the lamp before it connected with the back of their head.

Lucy screamed and released the lamp in an instant, stepping back and making a move to kick them. "Lucy Kick!" Lucy's foot didn't make contact with her potential kidnapper either however and her foot was caught in a strong firm grip from the hand that wasn't holding the lamp. Lucy yelped as she was lifted until she was upside down, her head inches away from the ground and tried to wiggle her way out of her attacker's grasp.

"Hey Blondie stop moving, I'm gonna drop you." A gruff voice said and Lucy groaned at the familiar voice.

"What the hell Laxus! Let me down!" Lucy roared.

"Whatever you say." Laxus smirked and dropped the other blonde on the floor.

Lucy quickly got up and brushed off her clothes and tried to regain some of her dignity. "Why are you in my room?" Lucy asked in a tone that demanded an answer. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark, Lucy could make out Laxus' features.

"Maybe I wanted to spend a night with you." He whispered in her ear in a husky voice that sent shivers up her spine.

Lucy's face exploded in a blush and she backed against the wall as fast as she could "Sh-shut up, why are you really here?" She stuttered and heard a slight chuckle come from him.

The dragon slayer didn't respond for a few seconds and it suddenly dawned on Lucy "Oh you're looking for this." Lucy reached into her cleavage and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper. She saw his eyes widen and she knew she was right. "Honestly Laxus, nothing you can do will change my mind." Lucy sighed and put the paper back, very happy with her decision to hide it in that place.

Laxus let out a moan of frustration and ran his hands through his spiky blonde hair. "Lucy don't be an idiot, following that crazy bitch would be suicide." He exasperated.

Lucy just shook her head and gestured for the dragon slayer to give her the lamp he still had in his hand. He handed it to her and she walked past him to put it back on the nightstand. "You don't understand Laxus, you've always been strong and able to defend the people you care about. I've been the damsel in distress too many times and I know that Celestia can give me that power to protect everyone. No one will be hurt because of me anymore." Lucy tried to explain why this was so important to her to Laxus. "Now if you would please get the hell out of my room." Lucy ordered and turned her back to Laxus. She expected to hear him walking away and gasped when instead he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him.

Laxus had a serious expression on his face and stared intensely at her, his eyes piercing into hers "I already told you this but apparently, it didn't get through your thick skull. What happened on that mission wasn't your fault! Mistakes were made, yes, but just cause your boyfriend yelled at you and you're a little jealous of Lisanna doesn't mean you should just run away and go on a fool's quest for power from a psychotic woman. Dammit Lucy, stop fucking around and go back home, you're not strong enough!" Laxus reprimanded Lucy hoping that some tough love would make her see sense.

Lucy clenched her fists and bowed her head "Get out." She whispered. Laxus let go and grimaced when he realized that he might have went too far.

"Lucy I didn-" Laxus tried to backtrack but was cut off.

"Get out!" Lucy spat with venom in her voice and when he didn't make a move to leave her voice softened considerably "Please." Lucy pleaded in a tried voice and Laxus nodded and walked out of the room, turning back to look at her one last time before closing the door.

Once he had left the room, Lucy collapsed onto the floor, her back against her bed and brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them. Tears stung her eyes and she bit her lip to try and stop them from falling. 'He's wrong, this is the only way.' Lucy thought and sat there thinking until she fell asleep.

 **Morning**

Ray of sunlight pierced the window of Lucy's room and filtered in through the curtain, illuminating Lucy in it's warm glow. She opened her eyes warily and got up once her eyes had adjusted to the light. She yawned and stretched her hands towards the ceiling before going to the bathroom and turning on the shower. The blonde began to strip and she took the map nestled in her cleavage and set it on the counter. Before she entered the shower, she looked at new mark on her right bicep. The golden angel wings seemed to produce their own light and shimmered. 'The mark of an angel. I wonder what it means.' Lucy pondered.

As the hot water battered her skin relentlessly she thought of last night and her exchange with Laxus. 'Maybe he is right… This is crazy and I might get myself killed.' Lucy shook her head and tried to dispel those thoughts 'No I'm going to do this or die trying.' Lucy steeled herself and turned off the water. She wrapped herself in a towel and jumped when she saw Virgo sitting on her bed.

"Good morning Princess, I have some clean clothes for you." Virgo handed her master a new outfit and Lucy smiled graciously at the maiden.

"Thank you, Virgo." Lucy said and went back into the bathroom to change. When she exited the bathroom, Loke was standing next to Virgo and talking to the pink haired spirit and when he saw Lucy he turned and smiled a little too brightly at Lucy.

"So, Princess we were thinking that maybe we can train you instead of Celestia." Loke suggested and Lucy sighed exasperatedly.

"Not you guys too! Listen, I know this is dangerous and I know you're worried about me but this is something I have to do and I really need your guy's support because without you, I have nothing to fight for." Lucy pleaded for her spirits to understand her cause if they couldn't believe in her then she couldn't either.

Loke looked at Virgo and they both nodded "Of course we support you Princess, we'll always be there for you and we want you to be strong but you need to understand that yesterday we were terrified that we were going to lose you and we couldn't do anything about it. Just promise us you'll be more careful because without you, we have nothing to fight for either." Loke grinned and Lucy felt her eyes begin to water.

The blonde hugged her two spirits "I'm so lucky to have you guys with me always and don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Lucy separated and winked at her spirits. Lucy went to the bed and sat down with her legs crossed and spread the old piece of paper out in front of her, taking extra care. As they had learned last night, there was not a map on the paper but a spell written on it in perfect cursive letters that seemed to move if you looked at them long enough.

Lucy took a deep breath, looked at her spirits one last time and when they nodded at her she began to chant the words

 _I call upon the holy road_  
 _To show my way to the place I seek_  
 _Oh heavens above, please hear my call and light my path_  
 _Route Heaven!_

As she finished the spell, the words began to glow and emit a blinding white light and suddenly a magic seal appeared a few inches above the paper. The seal began to spiral and the light got brighter and brighter until finally it burst causing Lucy and her spirits to cover their eyes and recoil from the light. Eventually, the light died down and in the place of the paper and seal, there was a glowing ball of white light.

Lucy cautiously reached out to touch the ball of magic and Loke quickly stepped forwards "Wait we don't know if that's safe." He reasoned but Lucy didn't listen to him and the tip of her index finger touched the ball. She gasped as the magic was instantly sucked into her body. The blonde yelped as her eyes started to burn and squeezed them shut and covered them with her hands.

"Lucy!"

"Princess!" Virgo yelled simultaneously with Loke but as soon as they made a step towards their master, she held up her hand towards them and shook her head.

"I-I'm fine." Lucy said in a shaky voice while slowly removing the hand covering her eyes and opened them. Instead of the usual warm brown color the blonde's eyes were completely white. However, when she blinked they had returned to their normal color.

Loke shared a look of concern with Virgo and sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you sure? What just happened?" Loke laid a hand on Lucy's shoulder and she smiled up at him.

"The spell worked, I know exactly where to go." Lucy proclaimed and jumped off the bed, full of energy. "It's like an archive magic user downloaded the map in my head, I just know." She explained and began to walk towards the counter where her keys and whip laid. She put them on her belt and turned to her spirits "First things first, I need to get on a train out of here."

Loke nodded "Okay let's go Princess. But what about Laxus? Is he coming to?" Loke asked hoping that the answer would be no. He had no idea why the dragon slayer insisted on following Lucy but he didn't like it.

Lucy visibly stiffened at the mention of Laxus and she shook her head. "No, he's not coming." She said simply in a tone that didn't invite any questions so Loke let it go.

"I'll take my leave now Princess. Please be careful and remember to summon me for anything, especially punishment time." Virgo bowed and disappeared in flash of gold light.

Lucy shook her head fondly at her spirit's "uniqueness" and walked out of her room with Loke following her.

They walked side by side out of the inn and towards the train station and suddenly Loke stopped. Lucy continued to walk and Loke looked in awe at Lucy. He had always known Lucy had something special inside of her and limitless potential but the woman in front of him was somehow different, he couldn't exactly put his finger on it but he knew one thing for sure. "Things are never going to be the same." Loke commented, not expecting for Lucy to hear him.

The blonde woman turned around and gave her spirit a bright smile. "Yeah!"

 **Laxus**

Laxus walked down the street towards the inn with a bag of fresh pastries and two hot chocolates in his hands. He was hoping that the food could act as a peace offering between him and Lucy and hopefully then they could calmly talk about another way. 'Hell, I'll train the girl myself if I have to.' He thought and questioned why he cared so much about Lucy in the first place 'Guilt? No, why would I be guilty? Is it because she's hot?' Laxus chuckled at this and shook his head 'That might be part of it but that's not the reason. Maybe I'm just getting soft…' Before Laxus could explore that idea anymore he arrived at his destination and entered the building.

He reached her room, knocked on the door with his foot, and waited for her to open the door but no one came so he knocked harder and called her name. "Hey Blondie open up! Don't tell me you're still pissy about last night." He jeered expecting the blonde to open the door and start yelling at him. Unfortunately, there was no yelling or any response at all from the other side and Laxus furrowed his eyebrows. He set the food down on the floor and wiggled the door handle and was surprised to find that it opened.

"Lucy?" Laxus called for her name and groaned when he saw a Lucy-less room. Her scent was still strong so she couldn't have been gone for too long. "Fuck!" He growled in frustration and ran out of the room towards the train station, the place he assumed she was going.

 **Lucy**

"Will you two stop arguing!" Lucy shrieked and the two spirits sitting across from her quieted down. The other passengers on the train turned around to stare at the trio and Lucy started to blush. "Sorry." She squeaked and buried her head in her hands.

"It's all his fault." Loke grumbled and Lucy groaned at his childishness.

"Lucy please send him away, he's ruining the mood." Hercules whined.

Lucy lifted her head and glared at her two spirits "Why are you even here Hercules?" She asked in an exasperated voice. The Hero had just appeared next to Loke a few minutes after the train had started moving which of course pissed Loke off a lot and the two had started to argue until finally Lucy was fed up.

"I wanted to spend time with you of course my Princess." Hercules smirked and Loke growled at him. Hercules glanced over at Loke and smiled cheekily at his annoyance. "Calm down Kitty." Hercules teased and Loke's ring started to glow.

"Watch your mouth asshole." Loke spat. Before the two spirits could go at it again Lucy used her magic to close their gates and both disappeared abruptly in a burst of gold sparkles.

"Sorry guys." Lucy muttered and resigned herself to look out the window at the passing scenery. She smiled slightly as the feeling of getting closer and closer to her destination filled her. 'I'm coming Celestia.'

 **Fairy Tail**

The shocking news that Lucy had left Fairy Tail hung over the guild like a dark cloud. Ever since Makarov had made the announcement everyone's spirit had dampened greatly, no more parties or fights or going on missions, Fairy Tail just wasn't Fairy Tail anymore. The ones who were feeling it the most of course were the members of Team Natsu. Erza, Gray, and Happy were sitting at the bar drinking together in solemn silence while thinking about their loss.

"I still can't believe she's gone." Gray said and took a deep drink of his beer and set the glass down with a sigh.

Erza grunted in agreement and drank from her mug. "Does she really think that we thought those things about her?" Erza asked, not really expecting an answer. She was baffled that Lucy thought of herself as weak and a liability to the team.

"It's our fault, we were so concerned about Lisanna that we didn't notice she was hurting too." Gray almost whispered.

"She'll come back, she wouldn't leave us." Happy declared confidently, trying to lighten the mood but his efforts didn't work. 'Lucy wouldn't leave us…right?' Happy asked himself and after another minute of silence, Lisanna entered the guild. The takeover mage walked straight to Gray, Erza, and Happy and sat down next to Erza.

"Hey guys." Lisanna greeted in a cheery voice and was met with half-hearted hellos and other greetings. She turned to Happy "Where is Natsu, Happy? Is he okay?" Lisanna asked.

Happy sighed at the mention of his best friend and began to think of the pink haired dragon slayer. "He's taking it really hard…maybe harder than anyone else."

 **Flashback**

Happy curled up next to Natsu and tried to comfort him, tears starting to stream from his eyes too. From the corner of his eye, Happy saw something on the otherwise bare floor and walked over to the piece of slightly charred paper. He read the letter over and started to cry even harder. 'Lucy…' Happy flew to the counter and laid Natsu's letter gently on the counter next to all the other envelopes. The exceed found a letter addressed to him in the pile, his name embroidering the envelope. He took a deep breath and opened the envelope apprehensively and pulled out the letter and began to read.

 _Dear Happy, hey buddy I hope you are doing well._  
 _I know you might not understand but I have to go away and leave you guys, my family._  
 _But that doesn't mean I don't love you guys any less, creating Team Natsu and going on adventures with you and Natsu has been a dream come true._  
 _I want you to know that you're one of my best friends even though we tease each other all the time, it's as if you were my goofy little brother. You're so brave and so much stronger than you think, don't let anyone tell you different._  
 _I hope we meet again._  
 _Love, Lucy Heartfilia_  
 _P.S. Don't give up with Carla! You have an amazing heart and she is sure to fall for you!_

Happy's tears stained the paper as they fell on it. "Lushy no." Happy cried and dropped the letter and went back to Natsu's side, hoping to comfort his friend that was still crying hysterically. Memories of the blonde filled their heads, running into Lucy in Hargeon Town and breaking Bora's charm, stopping Bora's plan to kidnap Lucy, taking her to Fairy Tail, forming Team Natsu, going on their first mission as a team, breaking into her apartment for the first time, so many memories they made together. She had become such an important part of their lives and been there for the best moments of their lives and now she was just gone.

It felt like hours passed and eventually their tears died down and Gray and Erza entered the apartment though the front door. They were shocked at the bare rooms two and looked sadly at their two friends on the floor. Erza walked over to Natsu, crouched down, and laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Hey Natsu, let's get out of here, come back to the guild with us with everyone else." Erza suggested and was surprised when Natsu roughly brushed her hand off his shoulder.

"No, I'm staying." He growled in a broken voice and glared up at Erza.

"Natsu don't do this, man. We're all hurting and we just want to help you." Gray tried to calm the dragon slayer down.

"No! You don't understand, this is all my fault! Lucy is gone because of me!" Natsu roared and his hands started to produce flames. "Get out! I want to be alone." He ordered and enveloped his fists in burning red fire.

Gray held up his hand as a cold mist started to come from his body and Erza's armor instantaneously transformed into her Fire Empress armor. Happy looked at Natsu and his other two best friends and started to get worried about whether a fight would break out. "Think what you are about to do Natsu. Do you really want to destroy this apartment?" Erza asked and hoped that would be enough for Natsu to back down.

The dragon slayer growled ferociously but his flames extinguished and Erza and Gray backed down. He walked past the two to the counter, grabbed a piece of paper and then jumped out of the window, running off to somewhere unknown.

Gray sighed and walked over to the counter with all the envelopes and found his sitting atop the pile. He looked at the envelope with a sad look in his eyes and turned to Erza "Things are never going to be the same."

Erza gave him the same look after reading the first sentence of her letter. "Yeah..."

 **Present**

Lisanna furrowed her eyebrows and stood up. "I should visit him then to make sure he's okay then." She said but they all shook their head at the idea.

"He's emotional and dangerous right now, Lisanna. Better to wait for him to calm down and come to us." Erza reasoned but Lisanna didn't listen to her.

"Don't worry he won't hurt me." She said in a confident voice and started to walk out of the guild.

Happy said goodbye to Erza and Gray and followed her out of the guild. "Wait Lisanna, I'll come too." Happy called after her and she smiled at the exceed. They walked to Natsu and Happy's house in the forest and arrived in a few minutes.

Lisanna and Happy shared a look before she opened the door slowly. "Natsu, it's Lisanna." She called and stepped into the house cautiously. She frowned at the state the house was in, as always it was a complete mess but for some reason the display that Natsu kept with all his mementos from the missions he's been on was destroyed and toppled over. Happy flew towards a familiar lump under blankets laying in one of the hammocks hung from the ceiling.

"Natsu." Happy gently nudged the dragon slayer and he groaned as he started to wake up. He slowly pulled the blankets off and slowly opened his eyes to look at Happy. Natsu's hair was disheveled even more than usual, his eyes had dark bags under them and were puffy from crying most likely. He sat up when he saw Lisanna and grunted something that she assumed was a greeting.

Lisanna walked up to the dragon slayer and sat down next to him on the hammock and put a comforting arm around his shoulder. "Are you okay Natsu? You look like you haven't slept or eaten in days." Lisanna worried and Natsu shrugged off her arm and stood up.

"I'm fine." He said in a tone that didn't invite anymore questions.

Lisanna sighed and stood up also. "Come on Natsu! I know Lucy was important to you but you can't just waste away here. Come to Fairy Tail with me." Lisanna grabbed his hand and squeezed it, hoping her words could get through the dragon slayer.

Natsu just shook his head and pulled his hand away from hers. "I'm sorry. I just can't…" He said quietly and walked out the door.

Happy watched his best friend walk off to who knows where and his eyes started to water. 'Natsu…don't go.' Happy thought but didn't make a move to stop instead the exceed looked up sadly at Lisanna and then also left back to Fairy Tail.

 **Lucy**

Lucy woke with a start from the train's whistle that signaled the passengers that they had reached their destination, Keystone City. The city itself wasn't her destination though, it was just the closest she could get by train.

The blonde exited the train and the station and entered the bustling city. She was a little overwhelmed with how people were moving through the city and the number of buildings in the city but she was able to find her way to the market where all kinds of vendors selling their goods. "Open gate of the Maiden, Virgo." Lucy summoned the pink haired spirit and gasped when she saw what she was wearing.

Virgo was dressed in sexy maid lingerie that left little to the imagination. People began to stare and point at the two women and Lucy desperately tried to cover up her spirit. "You can't dress like that in public! Where did you even get something like that?" Lucy exclaimed and Virgo cocked her head to the side as if she didn't understand.

"But Princess, I got this from your wardrobe." Virgo stated and Lucy's face erupted in a blush when she recognized the outfit suddenly.

"Th-that was a gift from Erza! Just change out of it now!" Lucy ordered and her spirit shrugged and in a puff of smoke was dressed in her regular maid outfit.

Lucy sighed in relief and looked around to see if people were still staring at them which they were so the blonde quickly took Virgo's hand and led her though the crowd. "Anyways Virgo, it seems like I'm going to have to travel deep into the forest to find Celestia so I wanted to do some shopping before I went. Can you help?" Lucy asked the Virgo nodded confidently.

"Leave it to me Princess." Virgo assured and they shopped for the next hour, getting all the essentials. When they finished, Lucy loaded all the stuff into her large pink backpack that she would bring on missions and started to leave the market when suddenly a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck a space with no people in it a few stores down from Lucy. Understandably the people closest to the bolt screamed in terror especially because it was a clear summer day and there wasn't a storm cloud in sight which meant someone had summoned the lightning bolt…or was the lightning bolt.

'No way! It can't be him!' Lucy thought to herself while shaking her head in disbelief but her suspicions were proven as soon as she heard a voice.

"What the hell are you all staring at?!" Someone barked in a familiar irritated tone.

'Damn it how did he find me?' Lucy asked herself and she quickly thanked and sent Virgo back to the Celestial Spirit Realm. The blonde pushed everyone gawking at the man who had just shot down from the heavens and made her way out of the city, hoping that the dragon slayer hadn't noticed her.

Laxus cast his gaze across the crowd of people looking for a certain blonde and started to move through the crowd, getting annoyed at how many people were in his way. 'Blondie has to be here, the only train leaving at the time was to Keystone…why couldn't she have picked a smaller city?' Laxus sighed frustratingly and tried to catch a whiff of her scent but couldn't isolate it with everyone else's scent mixing together. Luckily however he did catch a glimpse of a familiar shade of blonde hair running around a corner and he smirked as he pushed through the crowd in that direction. 'You can't run forever Blondie.'

Lucy ran through the streets; the crowd was thinning as she reached the outskirts and she could maneuver much easier. She constantly looked over her shoulder for spiky blonde hair but she didn't see any and as she reached the edge of the city she believed she was safe so she slowed down. "That was a close one." Lucy said aloud while breathing heavily from all the running. She grabbed her key chain and held out one of her gold keys. "Open gate of the Lion, Loke."

Loke appeared next to her and he looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. "Are you okay Princess, what happened?" Her spirit could feel that she was scared due to the bond that they shared.

Lucy waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "It's nothing just a close call. But anyways are you up for a hike?" Lucy asked and gestured towards the forest that sprawled over the mountains outside of the city.

Loke smiled and nodded his head. "Of course, Princess."

The pair walked towards the forest edge and as they reached the spot where the trees begun, they head a voice call for Lucy behind them.

"Found you Blondie." Laxus roared.

Lucy sighed dramatically. "Damn it! Why me?" She asked herself and debated her chance of getting away if she ran away. She shook her head at the idea, knowing she would be caught instantly and turned around to face Laxus.

Loke looked back and he looked at Lucy with a confused look on his face. "I thought you lost him back in Paradise."

Lucy rolled her eyes as Laxus walked up with his usual swagger. "I thought I did too."

"Funny seeing you here Sparky." Lucy fake smiled and Laxus grimaced at the nickname.

"Don't call me that." He demanded.

"I will as soon as you stop calling me Blondie." Lucy retorted and stuck her tongue out at the dragon slayer who rolled his eyes at her childishness. "You know stalking me is really creepy." She said.

"I'm not stalking you!" Laxus defended himself.

"Then why are you here?!" Lucy asked and waited for a response but got none. "Exactly! You're following me." Lucy exclaimed and stuck a finger in his face

Laxus groaned and pushed her finger away. "Calm down Blondie. I'm only here because my moral code won't let me leave you alone when I know you're gonna get in trouble again."

Lucy laughed obnoxiously. "You? Laxus Dreyar with a moral code? That's hilarious!" She laughed and the dragon slayer grit his teeth.

"Trust me you're gonna need my help eventually Blondie." He promised.

Loke stepped forwards and adjusted the rings on his finger. "That's why I'm here. I'll always protect Lucy." Loke vowed and Laxus smirked.

"That's cute but the world is changing and who knows what going to come at you next if you continue down this dangerous path." Laxus warned and before Lucy could respond, she felt something flash by them and disappear in a less than a second. Lucy, Loke and Laxus all felt it and began to look around for the source of the disturbance.

"Was that the wind?" Lucy asked even though it wasn't a windy day at all and the two men shook their heads.

"No, I definitely felt magic but I couldn't see anything." Laxus said and Loke nodded. Suddenly, it happened again and it was followed by a gust of wind that caused Lucy's hair to fly in her face.

"What the hell…" Lucy said as she pushed the hair out of her face. Laxus became enveloped in lighting and he flashed away in the direction that they felt the magic going, hoping to catch it.

Loke stood in front of Lucy and his ring began to shine. "Don't worry Princess, nothing is getting past me." Loke assured and all of a sudden, they heard something that sounded like a man laughing seconds before Loke flew through the air and landed a few feet away as if he had been punched. Before Lucy could react, she felt something or someone in front of her and then suddenly disappear in a gust of wind.

When she looked down she was wearing a beaded bracelet with a white stone attached that shined brilliantly for a few seconds before dying down. Lucy faintly heard Loke call for her and she looked at him and found that he was slowly dissipating into gold dust as if his connection to the world was being cut off. "Loke!" Lucy called and collapsed on her knees from a sudden dizzy spell.

Laxus appeared a few seconds later and his lighting disappeared as he ran up to Lucy but before he could reach her the wind came again and Laxus felt something touch his wrist and disappear, still too fast for him to see. He looked down and he had a similar beaded bracelet around his wrist except the stone on his shined bright yellow and when it dyed down it remained yellow with cracks that resembled lightning. He felt a similar dizziness pass through him but he was able to stay on his feet and he quickly crouched down next to Lucy.

"Are you okay, what happened?" Laxus asked.

"I'm fine and I don't know what happened. You left and then that thing came back and suddenly I had this bracelet on and Loke disappeared." Lucy explained as best she could and Laxus nodded as he got up.

"I'll find whatever this is. They'll regret fucking with me." Laxus growled and tried to summon his magic but didn't feel the usual burst of power fill his body. The dragon slayer furrowed his eyebrows and tried to reach into his magical container again but it was if locked. He closed his eyes and concentrated harder and cursed loudly when he couldn't succeed. Lucy looked at him curiously "I can't use magic." He concluded with an edge to his voice.

Lucy's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed her keys and tried to summon Loke again but she felt the same thing as Laxus and couldn't summon her spirits. "What the hell." Lucy cursed and suddenly it hit her. "The bracelets!" She exclaimed and Laxus nodded in realization.

"They must be blocking our magic or something." Laxus tried to pull the bracelet off and growled in anger when he felt a shock run through his body. Lucy yelped in shock when the same thing happened to her. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Laxus asked and Lucy nodded.

"Celestia." Lucy stated and sighed. "This must be another test." She realized and stood up and started to walk towards the forest.

Laxus ran after her and grabbed her shoulder, turning her around to look at him. "Where are you going? We have to get these things off, I'm sure Gramps or someone at Fairy Tail can help us out." He suggested.

Lucy looked up at the dragon slayer with a defiant look in her brown eyes. "I'm sorry for involving you in this Laxus but the only way to go is forwards. I can't go with you." She said and turned to walk into the forest.

"So, you're gonna go into this huge forest all alone without any magic to help you and hope that you don't die from another one of Celestia's tests?" Laxus asked in a condescending tone.

Lucy smiled at the dragon slayer's tone. "Yup." She said simply and took her first step into the forest.

Laxus shook his head and followed her into the forest, walking next to her on the trail. "Damn it Blondie." He cursed and she looked up at him.

"You don't have to come like I said, you're not involved in this." She pointed out but he just shook his head.

"Well as I see it, that asshole with wings involved me in this when she took away my magic. So, she's going to give it back to me whether she wants to or not." Laxus said.

Lucy decided not to object and was surprised to find that she was glad that Laxus was coming with her. "Well then let's get going Sparky." Lucy cheered and jogged ahead down the trail.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" Laxus yelled as he raced after her.

 **Celestia**

Celestia floated above the forest and watched the two blondes run down the trail while yelling at each other. "Was taking away their magic too much?" The angel asked herself and quickly answered. "No." She giggled and watched them until they disappeared completely into the thick forest.

"Good luck Lucy." Celestia grinned and with a big flap of her feathery wings she was soaring up through the skies at extreme speeds until she was above the clouds. She quickly stopped a huge cloud slowly moving though the cloud that most people would dismiss as a normal cumulonimbus cloud but Celestia knew better. She rocketed into the cloud and as soon as she entered the weightless mass, the air around her distorted and she found herself in whole new place.

Even though it was the middle of day when she entered, it was now night and countless stars shined in the clear sky. Floating in the night sky was a large land mass that looked as if it had been ripped away from the earth and was being held up by some unknown force.

Celestia retracted her wings and sailed through the air towards the land and landed on the edge, teetering on the jagged edge with her arms held out while giggling to herself. She took a step forwards and sighed contently as she looked in front of her. The only thing on the floating island was a huge Greek styled palace that took up most of the island. The Angel walked through the sprawling garden in front of the palace. Neatly trimmed hedges lined expansive patches of vibrant lush green grass and patches of brightly colored flowers of every hue. Her bare feet made no sound as she walked down the cobblestone path towards the pool of cosmic blue water that stretched through the middle of the garden. Three marble fountains sat in the water but weren't spewing out water as they usually would so the water was calm and reflected the night sky and the stars so it seemed as if the pool contained a sea of stars instead of water.

The angel sat on the edge of the pool and looked at her reflection in the pool, mesmerized the stars. She suddenly felt a familiar presence appear in the garden with her and heard footsteps approach her. A cloaked figure sat down next to her and they took of their hood and yawned tiredly. "Haven't had to use that kind of magic in a while." A deep smooth voice commented.

Celestia looked at the man sitting next to her and she smiled. "Getting old?" She asked teasingly.

"Not as old as you." The man retaliated and instantly regretted it when Celestia punched him with enough force to send him flying into the pool of water. "I was just joking!" He exclaimed but Celestia just stuck out her tongue at him and began to walk away. He quickly got out of the pool and in an instant, he was in front of Celestia. He enveloped the angel in a hug and laid his head on top of hers. Celestia started to struggle so he held on tighter. "You might be old but you're still as beautiful as ever." He complimented and she calmed down and looked up him.

"And you're still as big a charmer as always." Celestia pointed out with a slight blush and they separated and walked through the garden together towards the gigantic front doors of the palace. "You did a good job with them." Celestia said, referring to Lucy and Laxus.

"Thanks, it was easy but are you sure she'll be able to get here without any magic?" The man asked in a concerned voice as he pushed open the doors and they entered the building.

Celestia shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't worry, eventually she will…I think. It's not like The Palace is going anywhere." The angel shrugged and laughed at the look the man gave her. She started to walk off towards a different room but the man grabbed her hand causing her to look back at him.

"Things are never going to be the same, you know that right?." He asked.

Celestia nodded her head and she squeezed the man's hand reassuringly. "Yeah." Celestia said as the doors closed behind them with a loud bang.

* * *

 **Post Author Note:** So Lucy's moving on to her second test! Originally I didn't plan for her to have Laxus with her but I decided it would be more fun if she had a partner with her so I could built that friendship more.

We also got a glimpse of the Palace of Angels and Celestia's possible lover?! I was really excited to rewrite this part of the story cause I felt like I didn't make these new characters interesting or do The Palace justice but now I'm really happy with the way I'm revealing these new characters and making the new setting interesting. I imagined it in my head like an ancient Greek Palace with all of the marble pillars and statues and fountains and huge garden so if you can't fully visualize it from the chapter just look up images of that.

Going back to Fairy Tail is always fun too. Sorry if Natsu seems OOC right now but its only been about 2 days since Lucy left so I think it is understandable that he is still hasn't fully processed Lucy leaving him and everyone else. But don't worry, he'll be getting back to normal more or less soon.

Speaking of OOC characters, Laxus is one of my favorite characters in Fairy Tail and I really hope I'm doing his character right but if I'm not feel free to tell me!

So many things are changing and moving around and one thing is for sure, things are never going to be the same for anyone.

Well that's all I have to say, I'll have the next chapter out asap and I'm sorry if that's a while, I really do love writing but sometimes I just hit a block. Please review, reading all of them makes me so happy and it's also very helpful cause it tells me what's working and what's not so I can improve and make the story better for you guys.

Have an amazing day!


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